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BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS
Let down by society – the 9 missed chances that could’ve saved innocent Barnaby, Grace & Ian from ‘psycho’ killer
The Knife attacker made chilling last phonecall to brother after horror
A KNIFEMAN who slaughtered three innocent people in Nottingham slipped through the net multiple times before the deadly rampage.
Valdo Calocane, 32, stabbed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and Ian Coates, 65, last summer.
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The triple killer also injured three others when he stole Ian's van and began ploughing into pedestrians during the horror last summer.
After he was detained in a high-security prison on Thursday, it emerged there was a litany of missed chances to catch Calocane before he struck.
Questions are now mounting over how he was free to roam the streets and carry out the horrific rampage.
The police, CPS and mental health services are all in the firing line for failing to stop the killer despite a string of alarm bells ringing.
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Barnaby's mum was among those proclaiming the authorities have "blood on your hands" as the families of those killed said they were "let down".
Emma Webber said: "True justice has not been served today. We as a devastated family have been let down by multiple agency failings and ineffectiveness."
Speaking to The Times at home in Somerset, Emma and her husband, David have now welcomed a decision by the attorney-general to review whether Calocane’s sentence was too lenient.
Mr Webber said the review by Victoria Prentis, the attorney-general, was “the right thing and it needs to be done”.
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He added: “If you had kids you would do anything to make sure justice was served”.
While James Coates, son of victim Ian Coates, said the killer had "got away with murder".
Rob Griffin, Nottinghamshire Police's assistant chief constable, has admitted more could have been done to arrest Calocane - especially as a warrant had been out against him for nine months.
But Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has so far resisted ordering an independent review.
Here are the nine failed opportunities to stop Calocane before he committed the gruesome killing spree.
23 May 2020
Calocane first became known to the authorities back in 2020 when he attended A&E over fears he was having a heart attack.
The killer returned home to Nottingham but terrorised the block of flats by busting down doors.
Calocane was arrested for criminal damage and assessed as psychotic when taken in to custody.
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
Despite this, he was released without charge and almost immediately knocked down another apartment door.
The thug was arrested again but was this time sectioned after being diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic.
July 2020
Calocane again tries to smash his way into a stranger's flat and is returned to Highbury Hospital.
He had stopped taking his medication at the time, which became a common theme for the killer.
August 2021
A mental health worker visits his home but Calocane is believed to have actively concealed symptoms of psychosis.
He then evaded contact with the community team and stopped taking his medication again.
Officers obtained a warrant under the Mental Health Act to gain entry to his home but no action is taken until the following month.
September 2021
Police execute the warrant but an officer is assaulted by Calocane during the search.
A bag of unused medication dating from February 2021 is found.
Calocane was admitted to in-patient services but later reverted back to his old ways and began skipping appointments.
January/February 2022
Police were called to Calocane's home after he attacked a flatmate in a row over the cleaning.
Pals told how the violence broke out when mature student Calocane snapped at being asked to pick up dirty washing at the apartment.
The clip shows panicked Chris Young begging for roommates to "call police" and screaming "Valdo, get off me" as he's out in a headlock.
Officers attended the scene and escorted Calocane away - before university officials pushed for him to not face prosecution.
Instead the killer was offered mental health support to allow him to finish his mechanical engineering degree, last summer.
'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.
July/August 2022
Calocane had been due to collect his medication but instead lies and claims he is out of the country.
A mental health team visit his discharge address but the attacker is found not to live there.
September 2022
A warrant for Calocane's arrest was issued after failed to show up at court for attacking a police officer.
This warrant was still in place nine months later when he carried out the rampage.
May 2023
Calocane manages to get a job at a warehouse in Leicestershire five weeks before the killings but he attacks two employees.
Attempts were made to tell him he was blocked from entering the premises but no one can get hold of him.
June 2023
By the morning of the triple killing, a warrant for Calocane's arrest has been in place for nine months.
Despite this, he was free to travel to Nottingham and lurk in the shadows waiting to pounce on a victim.
Calocane ambushes Barnaby and Grace as they walk home from a night out together - pulling out a dagger and stabbing them both to death.
Barnaby's mum Emma revealed to The Times the heartbreaking moment she could not reach her son on his phone and used a tracking app.
Emma said: "Almost at that exact moment it came up on the news that the incident had taken place in Ilkeston Road [and] Dave said, “Barney’s phone is in Ilkeston Road”.
"My body just went cold."
He then kills caretaker Ian before stealing his van and running pedestrians over.
At this stage, Calocane has been “unmedicated and out of touch with psychiatric services for almost 12 months”.
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He later claimed voices in his head were telling him to kill.
"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."
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