Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane is locked up in hospital ‘for life’ after slaughtering three in knife and van rampage
Knife attacker made chilling last phonecall to brother after horror
A KNIFEMAN who slaughtered three people in a grisly knife and gun rampage in Nottingham has today been locked up in hospital.
Valdo Calocane stabbed Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both aged 19, and 65-year-old Ian Coates to death.
He then called his brother and told him: “This will be the last time I speak to you. Take the family out of the country.”
When asked if he was going to do something stupid, Calocane replied: “It is already done”.
It comes as…
- Haunting footage shows Grace and Barnaby walking together before killer struck
- Dramatic bodycam of the moment Calocane was Tasered is released
- Family slammed police in emotional statements after sentencing
- Shocking list of six missed chances to catch triple killer have been revealed
Calocane, 32, has now been locked up in Ashworth high-security hospital after pleading guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
This means he will not be released while he continues to pose a risk to the public, which could be for the rest of his life.
Sentencing, Mr Justice Turner said the attack was “frenzied”, adding: “You committed a series of atrocities in this city which ended the lives of three people in this city.
“Your sickening crimes both shocked the nation and wrecked the lives of your surviving victims and the families of them all.
“Your mental health state does not detract from the horror of your actions and the destructive impact it has had.”
One of the sons of victim Ian made an impromptu address before the hearing, which resulted in applause from the public gallery.
Lee Coates said: “No matter what the outcome is our family are here for you from now until whenever.
“I am so sorry that we had had to go through this and this is how we have met.
“If I don’t manage to stay the whole day because I can’t keep my mouth shut, I apologise. But we are in the same boat.”
It emerged yesterday that at the time of the killings he was “unlawfully at large”.
An arrest warrant had been issued in September 2022 when Calocane failed to attend court for assaulting a cop that was still outstanding.
Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin, from Nottingham Police, admitted: “We should have done more to arrest him”.
It comes as the victims’ families wept as their harrowing final moments were revealed in court for the first time.
They also slammed the “monster” triple killer in powerful victim impact statements as they bravely faced Calocane.
Grace’s dad, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, told the brute he was a “a cold, cowardly and calculating killer”.
He also praised his daughter who “heroically and valiantly fought you. Like a hero she put herself in harm’s way.”
The dad said: “The love of our life has been taken away from us. [The] music from my ears has been taken away. Our landscape has turned from vivid colour to black and white.”
Barnaby’s mum Emma Webber said her son’s life had been “stolen in the most vicious, unprovoked, senseless and evil way imaginable”.
She added: “I have utter rage and pure hatred for you, the murderer that sits before me today.
“I do hope that what remains of your dark soul will feel true remorse for what you have done.”
Her son, Barnaby’s younger brother Charlie, said: “When I first learned what happened I wanted to set the world on fire, I was so angry at everyone.”
While Ian’s son James Coates branded Calocane a “selfish monster who decided to go on a killing spree”.
“To have a life taken so horrifically is something you will never come to terms with”, he added.
Calocane’s rampage began just after 4am on June 13 as Grace and Barnaby walked back to their halls from a night out.
Poignant footage showed the students chatting to each other unaware that the killer was lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce.
Calocane pulled a dagger from his bag and began hacking at Barnaby repeatedly – causing him to suffer “grave injuries”.
As he collapsed to the ground, Grace showed “incredible bravery” by attempting to fight the killer off.
She managed to shove raging Calocane into the road but this caused him to turn his attention to her instead.
Tragically, he was “”as uncompromisingly brutal in his assault of Grace as he was in his assault of Barnaby” and she too fell to the ground.
Witnessed heard an “awful, blood-curdling scream” and saw stricken Grace attempt to crawl towards a row of houses screaming for help.
Brave Barnaby flailed his legs at the triple killer in a desperate bid to stop him but he fled as the pair succumbed to their horrific injuries.
Prosecutor Karim Khalil KC said footage captured the “devastating violence of the attacks” that was “mirrored only by the deliberate and merciless way the defendant acted”.
Calocane was then seen “calmly” walking away as he continued his gruesome spree.
While continuing on his rampage, the killer attempted to gain access to a home through a window but was shoved away by a stunned resident.
Undeterred, Calocane made his way to Magdala Road where he came across caretaker Ian.
After stabbing the dad to death, Calocane stole his van and used it to ram three pedestrians – leaving Sharon Miller, Marcin Gawronski and Wayne Birkett injured.
Wayne suffered “life-changing injuries” including brain damage, while Marcin was left with a number of injuries, including broken ribs.
Sharon Miller still suffers from severe pain, is house bound and “may never return to work”, the court heard.
The bloodbath was finally bought to an end when armed police swooped on a residential street to arrest him.
An officer could be heard yelling “stay where you are, stay where you are” in dramatic footage.
As he points a Taser at the killer, Calocane tries to shield his head.
The footage then shows him being led away in handcuffs by officers after his arrest.
Calocane previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
He also admitted attempted murder, with all his pleas accepted by prosecutors – meaning he did not have to stand trial for murder.
The court told Calocane was suffering from “extreme” mental illness at the time.
Calocane came to the UK from Guinea-Bissau with his family in 2007 when he was aged 16.
He grew up in a devout church-going family in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire and was described as “bright and studious”.
He had been receiving treatment from mental health services since 2020, including being treated with anti-psychotic medication.
It is understood his health spiralled during the Covid lockdown and complained of hearing voices telling him he needed to kill people.
Mr Khalil told the court Calocane had been sectioned at least four times before the attack but “actively concealed symptoms of psychosis”.
'Got away with murder' - families react to sentencing
Emma Webber, the mother of Barnaby Webber, said the assistant chief constable of Nottinghamshire Police has “blood on his hands”.
In a message directed at Rob Griffin, the devastated mum said: “If you had just done your job properly, there’s a very good chance my beautiful boy would be alive today.”
Emma added: “True justice has not been served today.
“But for today, our darling son, his dear friend Grace, and a wonderfully kind grandfather, Ian, have been stolen from us for ever and let down by the very system that should have been protecting them”
“We as a devastated family have been let down by multiple agency failings and ineffectiveness.
“The CPS did not consult with us as has been reported. Instead, we have been rushed, hastened and railroaded.”
She added: “We were horrified. At no point in 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.
“However, the pre-meditated planning, the collection of lethal weapons, hiding in the shadows and the brutality of attacks are of an individual who knew exactly what he was doing.
“He knew entirely that it was wrong but he did it anyway.”
Meanwhile James Coates, the son of Ian Coates said: “This man has made a mockery of the system and he has got away with murder.”
He added: “My heart from the very beginning has gone out to the family’s of Grace and Barnaby.
“It will continue to go out to them as we all now celebrate an anniversary every June that will never be celebrated.”
Dr Sanjoy Kumar, the father of Grace O’Malley-Kumar said that their family will “never come to terms” with her loss and how she died.
“She was a gift to us, she was a gift to the country,” he says.
Dr Kumar says Grace’s family have never questioned Calocane’s diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.
But the heartbroken father said there were “missed opportunities” to “divert [Calocane’s] lethal calls” that will “forever play on our minds”.
“We will look for answers regarding missed opportunities to intervene and prevent this horrendous crime,” he says.
The killer also refused to take his medication and was admitted to hospital in 2020 after smashing down doors in his block of flats.
On occasion in May 2021, Calocane visited MI5‘s London headquarters to ask them to stop “controlling him”.
The prosecutor said: “There is a photograph taken by their systems at Thames House, saying ‘please arrest me’ – effectively ‘stop controlling me’.”
Calocane also assaulted a police officer during a search of his flat, with the court told there were “missed opportunities” to alter the tragic chain of events.
Nottinghamshire Police’s assistant chief constable Rob Griffin admitted “we should have done more to arrest him”.
But the officer added: “Because of the circumstance prevailing, at the time of the alleged assault, in my opinion it is highly unlikely that he would have received a custodial sentence.
“Of course, an arrest might have triggered a route back into mental health services, but as we have seen from his previous encounters with those services, it seems unlikely that he would have engaged in this process.”
