The mother of a student who was stabbed to death in the Nottingham attacks has warned that a similar tragedy will happen again without urgent action.
Emma Webber, whose son Barnaby Webber was one of three people killed by paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane, said there has been a “catastrophic collapse of responsibility” before Calocane killed Barnaby, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates in the attacks on June 2023.
She said there had been a miscarriage of justice as the bereaved families called on the government, NHS and other institutions to take accountability for the failures.
Speaking at the press conference held by the victims’ families in London on Monday, she said: “There are many Valdo Calocanes amongst us out there. I think if urgent action doesn’t happen, it will continue… You don’t know who’s amongst us.”
The inquiry into the attacks, which lasted more than three months and heard from 164 witnesses, finished on Friday and chairwoman Her Honour Deborah Taylor is expected to report back with her findings and recommendations next year.
But the family said accountability for the failures needs to start now.
She said: “For months, we’ve sat through the statutory public inquiry and watched the evidence unfold. It has been brutal, bruising, and harrowing beyond measure, but it was so very necessary. Just look at what it has uncovered. Every single agency failed. Every single one. Without exception.”
She said there was “cover-up over candour”, adding: “There is also the undoubted miscarriage of justice that must now be addressed.
“Valdo Calocane… took three innocent lives and tried to take three more and the system let him plead to manslaughter.”
The inquiry heard how, in the three years before his killings, Calocane, who also injured three other people – Wayne Birkett, Sharon Miller, and Marcin Gawronski – during the attack with Mr Coates’ van, had been under the care of Nottinghamshire Healthcare Foundation Trust and had had several run-ins with the police.
Mrs Webber continued: “Mental health services fail to treat and manage. Police repeatedly failed to act. Agencies didn’t talk. Individuals chose to look the other way. Warnings were ignored. People chose not to care or be curious. And the fear of stigma and bias was placed above safety and duty. And when it went wrong, too many closed ranks. Instead of owning their mistakes.”
The victims families’ have also called for individuals to be held accountable for failings, including executives at the health trust where Calocane was treated.
Ms Webber said: “This isn’t about vengeance. It’s about doing the right thing, writing this grievous wrong and changing the systems that failed. The excuses stop here, and accountability starts today.”
Dr Sinade O’Mally Kumar, Grace’s mother, has called for the professional regulator, the General Medical Council, to examine the failures of the psychiatrists involved in Calocane’s care.
She said: “I blame the psychiatrist for discharging him without so much as a decent discharge letter to his GP or risk assessment.
“I believe that’s where a lot of the fault lies. And in my view, as a doctor myself, I will never forgive them for their lack of treatment and their incompetent discharge.”
She added: “I don’t believe they’re fit to practice, and I will happily go on the record and say that I do not believe they’re fit to practice, and I think the regulator doesn’t need to take a look at some of these psychiatrists.”
The sons of Ian Coates also claimed there has been a “lack of candour and blatant cover-ups” from authorities over Calocane.
Lee Coates said: “What we have endured in this inquiry, whilst leaving us with many more questions, [has shown the catastrophic failures from all services and agencies involved. It has shown a lack of candour and blatant cover-ups”.
A public inquiry began hearing evidence in February and heard its final evidence last week.
Failings by both the NHS and police have been exposed throughout the hearings, including the fact that months before the killings, Calocane was discharged by Nottinghamshire Healthcare Foundation Trust’s Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) service because he failed to turn up for appointments, and the team had “lost” him.
Calocane had been sectioned four times while under the care of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT), before he was discharged to his GP in 2022.
He was convicted in January 2024 of manslaughter and attempted murder, based on diminished responsibility, and sentenced to an indefinite hospital order at high-security Ashworth High Security mental health hospital.
Mr Webber’s father David Webber said: “We’re fighting on to do what’s right for our loved ones. Without sounding too glib, we’re here to push on for the betterment of the country.
“This can’t continue. We’re seeing it more and more and more and it’s just got to stop.”