The mother of Valdo Calocane, who killed three people in Nottingham in 2023, has told an inquiry she believed he posed a risk to others due to his mental health years before the attacks.
Mother's Testimony
Celeste Calocane gave evidence on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at the inquiry examining the events leading up to the triple killing. She stated that she wanted her son to be treated in hospital for psychosis as early as May 2020. Calocane was later diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
In June 2023, Calocane stabbed to death students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, before attempting to murder three pedestrians with a van.
Mrs Calocane, who was 16 when she gave birth to Valdo, described her shock when he was first arrested in May 2020 for damaging a neighbour's door. She said, 'When they called to say your son's been arrested for burglary… I said he's 28 years old, how can he be arrested for burglary? He's never done anything like that. That's out of character. I can't accept that.' She added, 'You're telling me he's becoming a delinquent. That's not my son.'
Around that time, Calocane had called relatives sounding agitated and crying. Notes from the period show Mrs Calocane wanted him taken to hospital and considered him a 'risk to others.'
Counsel to the inquiry Rachel Langdale KC asked: 'You were satisfied you did say that? His current mental state is a risk to others. You recognised that and wanted him to go to hospital for treatment?' Mrs Calocane replied: 'Yes definitely, I wanted him to go to hospital. I did not understand the extent of the risk, but I wanted it.'
Events After First Arrest
The inquiry heard that Calocane was released from custody after his first arrest on May 24, 2020, but later that day he kicked at a woman's door, causing her to jump out of a window in fear and suffer serious spinal injuries. He was admitted to Highbury Hospital in Nottinghamshire the following day.
Mrs Calocane, who worked in intensive care during the Covid-19 pandemic, became tearful while describing having to put on a 'brave face.' She said: 'It was just like beyond anything you could imagine.' During that time, Calocane would call her wanting to hear relatives' voices. She wrote in a statement: 'If we stopped talking, he'd ask us to keep talking. I just thought at that time, with everything that was going on around the world, and then he was far away… he was feeling lonely, being away from the family and then can't see us. In hindsight, I think it was an attempt by him to hear something other than the voices in his head.'
Brother's Journal
The inquiry heard that Calocane's younger brother, Elias Calocane, created a 'journal' of messages between him and the killer to give to his in-patient doctors. Mrs Calocane said she did not see the messages, which included thoughts of 'red rum' (murder spelled backwards) and wanting to 'hurt permanently.' She told the inquiry: 'I was going through like a really hard time myself, and Valdo being unwell. I think probably that's the reason, just for protecting me, that he (Elias) didn't mention that.'
On Wednesday, the inquiry heard that Elias thought his brother's violent text messages were related to suicidal thoughts, not harming others. Mrs Calocane said her son's 'I love you' messages to all family members were 'out of character.'
Hospital Admissions
Calocane was detained in hospital for a second time in July 2020, but his mother thought he was discharged 'too early.' She told the inquiry: 'I was never happy with the discharge plan from the first and second admission, because I know my son better than any other psychiatrist. I don't know what's going on with him and his head and everything, but I see he was an empty shell when I look at him. He wasn't there.' She added that he 'wasn't ready for discharge.'
Mrs Calocane said she had not been told that a doctor warned her son he 'could end up killing someone' during his second hospital admission. The inquiry also heard that Calocane's paternal grandfather had 'problems in the head' and did not recognise his own son. Calocane's father told doctors he was not aware of any diagnosis for his father. Mrs Calocane agreed she and her husband were 'thinking hard as a family' about what could be relevant to their son's psychosis.
Calocane was detained in hospital due to his mental health four times before the fatal attacks in June 2023. The inquiry continues.
