Mental health professionals decided not to detain Valdo Calocane, the Nottingham triple killer, despite a violent incident in 2020, after considering research on the over-representation of young black men in detention, a public inquiry has heard.
Calocane, who has paranoid schizophrenia, fatally stabbed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and 65-year-old Ian Coates on 13 June 2023. He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility.
The inquiry, which began on Monday, heard that on 24 May 2020, Calocane was arrested for repeatedly kicking and punching a door at his student accommodation. A mental health assessment concluded he was experiencing a first episode of psychosis, attributed to sleep deprivation and exam stress. A doctor was leaning towards sectioning him, but a team considered research on the over-representation of young black men in custody and decided a community treatment plan was a safe alternative.
Shortly after his release, Calocane kicked another neighbour’s door, causing her to jump from a first-floor window and suffer serious spinal injuries. He was then sectioned for about three weeks, the first of four hospital admissions before the attacks. The inquiry heard that Calocane repeatedly misled healthcare professionals about his mental health and medication.
In a joint statement, the families of the victims said they had faced “failure and silence” and hoped the inquiry would “expose systemic neglect” by mental health services, law enforcement, and judicial bodies.
