The mother of a university student stabbed to death by Valdo Calocane believes a dread of being branded racist contributed to the deaths of three people, stating that "every single agency failed - without exception." Emma Webber, mother of 19-year-old Barnaby Webber, claimed the paranoid schizophrenic evaded justice partly due to the "fear" of being accused of "stigma and bias" towards the knifeman.
Background of the Attack
Barnaby Webber was killed alongside his friend Grace O'Malley-Kumar, also 19, in the early hours of June 13, 2023, while walking home from a night out at the end of their first year at Nottingham University. Calocane, wielding a rucksack of weapons, carried out an unprovoked assault, stabbing the teenagers before killing 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates and using his van to attempt to murder three pedestrians.
Systemic Failures Exposed
Emma Webber highlighted that Calocane had been sectioned four times under the Mental Health Act before the attack. She drew parallels to the murder of Henry Nowak, a case that has led to claims of "two-tiered policing" in the UK. "The fear of stigma and bias was placed above safety and duty," she said. An inquiry into the attacks, which lasted over three months and heard from 164 witnesses, concluded on Friday. Chairwoman Her Honour Deborah Taylor is expected to report findings and recommendations next year.
Families Demand Accountability
On Monday, the victims' families held a press conference in London demanding accountability for the failures, noting that no one has been disciplined over repeated failures to halt Calocane before his deadly rampage. Mrs. Webber said: "Three years ago our beautiful son was murdered... because the systems that should have protected him failed completely and a monster was left at large." She described listening to the inquiry as "brutal, bruising and harrowing beyond measure."
She added: "Every single agency failed. Every single one, without exception. There are many Valdo Calocanes amongst us... if urgent action doesn't happen, it will continue." The families were led to believe Calocane would be tried for murder but were stunned when the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) accepted a plea to manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility, resulting in a secure hospital order rather than prison. Mrs. Webber said there had been a "cover-up over candour" and described a "miscarriage of justice."
Call for Immediate Action
The families are demanding a meeting with the Government within the next month. Mrs. Webber stated: "The findings of this inquiry will not be made until spring of next year, however, that does not prevent action from being taken now." Barnaby's father, David Webber, said: "We're fighting on to do what's right for our loved ones... We're here to push on for the betterment of the country. This can't continue."
Statistics on Mental Health and Homicides
Evidence presented to the Nottingham Inquiry suggested that around 17 to 21% of homicides in the UK are committed by people with mental health issues, equating to 100 to 120 cases a year, or "two a week." The National Confidential Inquiry into Suicide and Safety in Mental Health (NCISH) data shows that between 2013 and 2023, 642 homicide victims were killed by individuals in recent contact with mental health services, accounting for 11% of the total 6,097 homicide victims. This suggests an average of 58 people a year are murdered by someone with mental illness, just over one a week.
