Police Forces Apologise for Failing to Arrest Calocane Before Nottingham Killings
Two police forces have issued formal apologies to the bereaved families and survivors of the Nottingham attacks for failing to act on an arrest warrant for Valdo Calocane, which was issued 10 months before he killed three people. This admission came during a public inquiry examining the events that allowed Calocane to remain free.
Missed Opportunities and Systemic Failures
Representatives from Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire police forces acknowledged significant operational failures. John Beggs KC, representing Nottinghamshire police, stated that the force accepted it should have executed the arrest warrant in a "timely manner." Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Rob Griffin described this oversight as a "serious failure," offering an unreserved apology to the families of the deceased and the survivors.
Hugh Davies KC, representing three officers from Leicestershire police, also apologised for recognised operational failures. He highlighted that officers did not review Calocane's previous police records when responding to an assault at a factory in Kegworth, Leicestershire, in 2023. If they had accessed these records, they would have discovered the outstanding warrant for his arrest.
NHS England Admits Devastating Consequences
NHS England and the NHS trust responsible for Calocane's care, who has paranoid schizophrenia, also apologised to the families. The lawyer representing NHS England said, "The NHS and the system as a whole failed you with devastating consequences." Adam Straw KC, representing Calocane's mother and brother, noted "glaring signs" a year before the attacks that Calocane was relapsing, including stopping his antipsychotic medication.
Straw criticised the decision to discharge Calocane in late 2022 as "disastrous," stating that his family was not given a full picture of his mental health illness or violent attacks until after the killings. He argued that if Calocane's mother had known the full risk, she would have been more vigilant.
Families' Anguish and Legal Criticisms
Tim Maloney KC, representing the bereaved families, condemned any attempt by police to suggest that arresting Calocane would have made no difference, calling such claims "cowardly, highly offensive and insulting." He warned that this perspective raises concerns about public safety in Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.
Maloney described the Nottingham attacks as the "culmination of decades of unconscionable but entirely predictable structural and systemic individual failures." He emphasised that the families "live with the horror of that day, today and every day."
Details of the Attacks and Inquiry Proceedings
The inquiry heard that an arrest warrant was issued for Calocane in September 2022 after he failed to attend a court hearing for assaulting an emergency worker. Despite this, he assaulted two colleagues at a factory in Kegworth in 2023. A month later, on 13 June 2023, he killed University of Nottingham students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, while seriously injuring three others.
Sophie Cartwright KC, representing the three survivors, noted that Wayne Birkett and Sharon Miller suffered "appalling and life-changing injuries," with Birkett expressing a wish that his life had been taken instead. The inquiry continues to examine the "events, acts and omissions" that contributed to these tragic outcomes.
