UK - 3 people found dead on the streets of Nottingham 13 June 2023 ‘Arrest’

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I hope that Grace receives some kind of posthumous award for her bravery that night.

It sounds like Barnaby was the intended first target - Grace had the chance to run but instead she stood by her friend and bravely tried to fight the attacker off

 

Speaking after the decision, Grace's devastated father Dr Sanjoy Kumar told BBC News: 'Justice has not been done for our daughter, who was just a super person, and she would be disappointed it was not concluded the way it should.

'At the end of the day when you strip everything away, these children were walking home from night out, they were attacked and murdered brutally.'


I totally agree with him.
 
Completely agree with the families, this monster is receiving YET AGAIN, another chance to escape the consequences of his vicious, violent acts. The insanity defence should not apply here if Calocane was aware of right and wrong at the time of the offences which I believe he clearly was. Prosecutors should have had some backbone and let a jury decide if there was any defence here. I think I know what a British jury would have concluded. They just wanted this case to go away quietly, it's a disgrace to the victims and puts the public at risk.

He may exhibit schizo-affective traits, depression and paranoia but predominantly I see a highly intelligent manipulator who was angry that the world wasn't giving him everything he thought he was owed. He is a psychopath in my opinion and I fear for those nurses who are going to have to deal with him and I fear even more that he will manipulate some gullible psychiatrist to let him out one day. Unfortunately I have worked with quite a few mental health professionals who lack the experience and common sense to recognize people with personality disorders.

Calocane is not your typical outpatient, even an idiot could have seen he was high-risk with all those sections and a history of violence towards strangers. There is a clear case to answer why mental health services allowed him to be out when it was apparent he was not compliant with medication (even if that was effective which I doubt). What could possibly go wrong?
 
An article in the Telegraph (unfortunately behind a paywall), revealing (oh what a surprise...) that Nottingham police had also failed to arrest him for assaulting one of their own officers....

"Nottinghamshire Police issued a warrant for the arrest of Valdo Calocane in September 2022 after he failed to appear in court in connection with an assault on an officer who was taking him to hospital for mental health treatment.

But officers failed to track him down and make the arrest, leaving Calocane free to launch his fatal attacks on Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates in June last year."

And detailing how (as I suspected) that Calocane was a heavy cannabis user:

"Calocane is believed to have been living in a property close to where his attack on Barnaby and Grace took place until shortly after his graduation, in September 2022 when he and other tenants were evicted following a police raid.
One local resident claimed there was always a strong smell of cannabis coming from the house and the landlord finally lost patience and placed the property up for sale.

It is not clear where Calocane, who often used the alias Adam Mendes, moved to over the next year but it was believed he may have been sleeping rough in the capital."

Cannabis is associated with the development of schizophrenia as is well known in the psychiatric community. This, in a sense, supports Calocane's mental health defence, but I feel people should bear some responsibility for destroying their own brains, be it with drugs, alcohol, *advertiser censored* and then committing crimes.

The article also points out that Calocane managed to achieve an engineering degree whilst "struggling" with these mental health difficulties. I find this very interesting that he was able to control his mind enough to achieve this whilst in the grip of paranoid schizophrenia. In my experience this would be an impossibility, so again, I do question the diagnosis. He certainly had great control over when he was being schizophrenic and when he wanted to complete assignments in a highly technical and exact discipline. I hope the families get this case referred to the Attorney General. After all it's an election year.....
 


Nottinghamshire Police confirmed today it was in contact with Calocane, who is still awaiting sentencing, 'on a number of occasions between 2020 and 2022'.

When Calocane carried out his triple killing a warrant had been out for his arrest for a period of nine months, Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin confirmed.

The warrant was issued on September 2022 after Calocane did not appear in court, having allegedly assaulted an officer while being taken to a specialist mental health hospital.

In a statement issued today, Mr Griffin said: 'The devastating impact that the events of 13 June have had and continue to have for the families of those killed and those that survived these dreadful attacks are immeasurable.

'I can confirm that Nottinghamshire Police previously engaged with the suspect, mostly while supporting our colleagues in the NHS on a number of occasions between 2020 and 2022.
 
Even though he DID have mental health issues, plenty of people do yet they don't go around killing others. It's a damn shame the police were too late stopping him having seen his previous antics.
 
Nottingham killer is 'evil person', says victim's son

The son of Ian Coates, one of three people stabbed to death in Nottingham, said his father's killer was the "most evil person on this planet".

 
Nottingham attacks: the missed opportunities to stop Valdo Calocane

Despite alarming warning signs, the 32-year-old, who has paranoid schizophrenia, evaded authorities for months

[…]

Here is a timeline of Calocane’s engagement with mental health services, and the chances to stop him before he turned to violence.

[…]

 

This must be really awful for the families to hear.

It’s not like this guy was evading an arrest warrant by running to the other side of the country..he was literally in the same city.
 
Mr Justice Turner tells Valdo Calocane to stand as he passes his sentence.

He says he is satisfied that Calocane is suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and should therefore be detained in hospital for medical treatment.

He orders that Calocane return to Ashworth Hospital under section 37 of the Mental Health Act.

There is no timeframe for his release - the judge earlier said it would "probably" be for the rest of his life.

 

Barnaby Webber's family today furiously raged 'true justice has not been served' and that the Nottingham triple-killer who stabbed three to death during rampage has 'gotten away with murder'.

In an extraordinary statement on the court steps, the 19-year-old's mother Emma Webber accused Nottinghamshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service of having 'blood on their hands'.

She claimed that authorities 'railroaded' them into accepting the lesser charges of manslaughter in what had become a 'trial by doctors'.

Judge Mr Justice Turner today said Valdo Calocane would 'very probably' be detained in a high security hospital for the rest of his life after 'deliberately and mercilessly' stabbing students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, in the early hours of June 13 last year.

He told the killer: 'You committed a series of atrocities in this city which ended the lives of three people. Your sickening crimes both shocked the nation and wrecked the lives of your surviving victims and the families of them all.'

In a statement, Mrs Webber said: 'We as a devastated family have been let down by multiple agency failings and ineffectiveness. The CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) did not consult us as has been reported - instead we have been rushed, hastened and railroaded.'

She said the first meeting with them was on November 24, continuing: 'We were presented with a fait accompli that the decision had been made to accept manslaughter charges.

'At no point during the previous five-and-a-half-months were we given any indication that this could conclude in anything other than murder. We trusted in our system, foolishly as it turns out.

'We do not dispute that the murderer is mentally unwell and has been for a number of years.
 

Barnaby Webber's family today furiously raged 'true justice has not been served' and that the Nottingham triple-killer who stabbed three to death during rampage has 'gotten away with murder'.

In an extraordinary statement on the court steps, the 19-year-old's mother Emma Webber accused Nottinghamshire Police and the Crown Prosecution Service of having 'blood on their hands'.

She claimed that authorities 'railroaded' them into accepting the lesser charges of manslaughter in what had become a 'trial by doctors'.

Judge Mr Justice Turner today said Valdo Calocane would 'very probably' be detained in a high security hospital for the rest of his life after 'deliberately and mercilessly' stabbing students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, in the early hours of June 13 last year.

He told the killer: 'You committed a series of atrocities in this city which ended the lives of three people. Your sickening crimes both shocked the nation and wrecked the lives of your surviving victims and the families of them all.'

In a statement, Mrs Webber said: 'We as a devastated family have been let down by multiple agency failings and ineffectiveness. The CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) did not consult us as has been reported - instead we have been rushed, hastened and railroaded.'

She said the first meeting with them was on November 24, continuing: 'We were presented with a fait accompli that the decision had been made to accept manslaughter charges.

'At no point during the previous five-and-a-half-months were we given any indication that this could conclude in anything other than murder. We trusted in our system, foolishly as it turns out.

'We do not dispute that the murderer is mentally unwell and has been for a number of years.
It was a really powerful statement - seeing it written down does not really do it justice I encourage everyone to watch it.

Graces poor mother looks distraught in the video to - from the first time I saw her to now she looks like she’s aged 10+ years understandably.
 
Justice has not been served today, say Barnaby Webber's family

The family of 19-year-old victim Barnaby Webber have now released a statement.

They say justice has not been served today, hitting out at what they see as failures in the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the police service.

In a statement published today, Barnaby's family says the CPS did not consult with them on accepting the defence's manslaughter plea. "Instead we have been rushed, hastened and railroaded," family members say.

As a reminder, late last year, prosecutors accepted a plea of manslaughter from Calocane on the basis of diminished responsibility after he denied murder charges in November.

Prosecutor Karim Khalil said the families of the victims had been consulted before the prosecution decided to accept the pleas entered.

 
Webber family: Calocane knew exactly what he was doing

Barnaby Webber's parents continue by saying that at their first meeting with the CPS on 24 November - four days before the pre-trial plea hearing - they were presented with a "fait accompli - that the decision had been made to accept manslaughter charges".

They say that they do not dispute that Calocane has been "mentally unwell" but says he "knew exactly what he was doing".

The family has "so many questions" surrounding how the CPS and carried out its prosecution and "grave concerns" about Nottingham Police.

And, lastly, the statement targets Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin.

In an earlier statement, Griffin said that he had reviewed the force's involvement and found "we should have done more to arrest" Calocane prior to the killings.

"You have blood on your hands," Barnaby's parents says to Griffen. "If you had just done your jobs properly there's a very good chance my beautiful boy would be alive today."

 
Killer knew entirely he was wrong - mother of Barnaby Webber

Barnaby Webber's mother Emma says the families have been "railroaded" and presented with a "fait accompli" to accept manslaughter charges.

Continuing, Emma Webber says she foolishly trusted the system, adding that the killer knew entirely he was wrong.

She notes "grave concerns" with Nottinghamshire Police and tells the assistant chief constable he has "blood on your hands".

 
He's got away with murder, says Ian Coates' son

The son of victim Ian Coates says he sympathises with the families of Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, calling them "the definition of strength and unity".

James Coates says his heart also goes out to the other victims of Calocane's attack, who were injured but survived.

He criticises the judge's decision, saying the punishment for Calocane's "calculated, cold, brutal killing spree" has been reduced down to something that falls within the same legal guidelines as death by dangerous driving.

"This man is a killer - murder was the only thing he cared about," he says.

He adds that his family and the city of Nottingham have "suffered a great loss".

He says both the police and the NHS must be "held accountable for their failures".

"This man has made a mockery of the system and he has got away with murder."

 
We will look for answers - Grace O'Malley-Kumar's father

"We will never come to terms with the loss of our beloved daughter Grace, how she lost her life [and] her heroic actions," says her father Dr Sanjoy Kumar.

Grace was a "gift to us" and a "gift to the country", he says, thanking his "wonderful family... and all of our friends for their continued love and support".

Kumar says his family has never questioned Calocane's mental health diagnosis. But he believes the "lack of toxicology [report]", "contemporaneous mental health assessment" and "missed opportunities" require further review.

"We will look for answers regarding missed opportunities to intervene and prevent this heinous crime," he adds.

Kumar goes on to say "we've been through absolute hell for the last few days", stressing that the families need to regroup.

That brings the families' statements to an end.

 
Footage shows timeline of Nottingham attacks and killer's arrest

Footage released by police has shown the movements of triple killer Valdo Calocane and his subsequent arrest following the Nottingham attacks.

The footage shows Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar walking home from a night out before Calocane fatally attacked them on 13 June.

Calocane is then seen moving towards where he killed Ian Coates, before stealing his van and driving into three pedestrians in the city centre, all of whom survived but suffered serious injuries.

[Video at link.]

 

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