Mother of Nottingham attacks victim calls for ‘whole truth’ to emerge at inquiry | Nottingham

The mother of a student killed in the 2023 Nottingham attacks has said she will “fight to the end” to find out the truth about how Valdo Calocane was free to carry out the attack before a public inquiry into the incident begins.

Students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, were fatally stabbed by Calocane in a frenzied attack on June 13, 2023. In the early hours of the next day, Calocane drove a van into pedestrians Wayne Birkett, Sharon Miller and Marcin Gawronski, leaving all three with severe and life-changing injuries.

Calocane, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia before the attacks, was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after pleading guilty to three counts of manslaughter and three counts of attempted murder by reason of diminished responsibility.

A legal inquiry will begin on Monday to assess the “events, acts and omissions” that preceded the attacks and what could be done to prevent something similar from happening again.

Emma Webber, 53, a communications manager at the NHS and mother of Barnaby Webber, said she felt “overwhelmed, anxious”. [and] He was worried before the first day of the inquest and said it “took a long time”.

“What the investigation must deliver are correct answers, but not one version of the truth, but the whole truth,” he said. “When you’re not doing your job or your organization isn’t doing its job properly, telling the truth is as simple as accepting responsibility and accountability.”

The investigation will examine Calocane’s NHS healthcare and his interactions, or lack thereof, with police before the attacks.

A report by the Care Quality Commission into Calocane’s care at the Nottinghamshire healthcare NHS trust between May 2020 and September 2022 found there was a “series of errors, omissions and poor decisions” and that unless action was taken the problems “will continue to pose an inherent risk to patient and public safety”.

An independent review by Theemis Consulting found there was a “catalogue of failures” in the NHS treatment given to Calocane, including having no contact with mental health services or his GP for nearly nine months before the attacks.

Webber said he could not name a single agency other than CQC that had “acted with integrity, transparency and sincerity” since the attacks. “I can say that we encountered evasive, defensive approaches from all of them, without exception,” he said. “They are doing their homework and closing ranks to silence us.”

Webber predicted there would be “shocking” revelations during the investigation, with potentially thousands of documents related to Calacone’s care and investigations conducted by police being released.

The police watchdog is investigating Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire police forces after Calocane was reported to have attacked two colleagues at a warehouse in Leicestershire about five weeks before his deadly attacks in Nottingham.

In a joint statement, the families of Webber, O’Malley-Kumar and Coates said they had faced “failure and silence” for too long and that the investigation was “about holding accountable those who neglected their work.”

“We call for systemic negligence to be uncovered through a comprehensive review of missed opportunities by mental health services, law enforcement and the judiciary,” the statement reads.

The families also said they wanted to challenge the legal framework under which Calocane was given a hospital order rather than a life sentence.

Asked if he believed the investigation would lead to significant change, Webber said it “will be a conduit to enable meaningful change to occur.” I don’t think you can assume that.

“This won’t be the end for us, but it will be the beginning of the reckoning and then we have to make sure we complete it,” he said.

Webber said he or another family member will attend every hearing until the investigation concludes in June.

“I’ve been in fight mode and hyper-awareness mode for years. That’s my norm because there’s never been a time when it’s softened or that quiet and we can try to process some of our pain.”

“We will stubbornly continue this fight to the end and achieve justice, which means that one day my soul will be at peace knowing that I did everything I could for him,” he said. “This is my son and I want to be able to say I did absolutely everything I could.”