Explainer
Could the Nottingham attacks triple killer Valdo Calocane have been stopped?
Watch ITV News Central Correspondent Rajiv Popat's timeline of the killer's contact with the emergency services
The families of the Nottingham attack victims say there were "missed opportunities" to stop the killer, with questions now being asked about why he was not under closer supervision.
Dr Sanjoy Kumar, the father of 19-year-old victim Grace O'Malley-Kumar, said the "missed opportunities to divert his lethal path" will "forever play on our minds."
Valdo Calocane, 32, fatally stabbed students Grace and Barnaby Webber and 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates in Nottingham city centre in the early hours of 13 June 2023.
Prosecutors accepted his pleas of not guilty to murder and guilty to manslaughter at a hearing at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday, on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to "serious" mental illness. Calocane has paranoid schizophrenia.
He also admitted three counts of attempted murder relating to pedestrians he deliberately targeted with Mr Coates' van.
On Thursday, Calocane has been sentenced to a high-security hospital order after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
Watch the statements from the victims' families outside court after sentencing
Addressing Nottinghamshire Police and Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin directly she said the families "grave concerns regarding aspects of this investigation" and told Mr Griffin that he "has blood on [his] hands."
She continued: "If you had just done your jobs properly there’s a very good chance my beautiful boy would be alive today.
"Our darling son, his dear friend Grace, and a wonderfully kind grandfather Ian, have been stolen from us forever, and have been let down by the very system that should have been protecting them."
James Coates, whose father Ian Coates was killed, said that "failures from the police, the CPS, the health service" had lead to the three killings.
He added: "All we can hope is that in due course, some sort of justice will be served. This man has made a mockery of the system and he has got away with murder."
Timeline of 'missed opportunities'
Calocane was known to the authorities in Nottingham several years before last year’s attacks.
May 23 2020
Calocane attended hospital, believing he was having a heart attack and was arrested after returning to his flat and causing damage to a door.An assessment under the mental health act was carried out at a Nottingham custody suite by psychiatric services, who concluded that Calocane was psychotic, but his risk to others was low.He was then referred to a crisis team for a review at home, and he was released without charge.Calocane then returned to his apartment where he was arrested for criminal damage for knocking down another door to a different apartment.He was then admitted to inpatient psychiatric services at the Highbury Hospital.
June 17 2020
Calocane was discharged from Highbury Hospital into the care of Nottingham City Crisis and advised to take medication for a minimum of 6 to 9 months and to seek medical advice, if he wished to stop taking it.
July 2020
Calocane was readmitted to hospital after attempting to force his way into a flat, having stopped taking his medication.He then evaded contact with the community team.
September 3 2021
A warrant to gain entry to his property to assess him was executed after he’d assaulted a police officer. Officers found unused medication in the flat.He was admitted to inpatient services under the mental health act and managed between September and October 2021.
January 2022
Calocane was involved in an altercation with a flatmate and a mental health assessment concluded that he could continue to be treated in the community.At the end of January, he was admitted again as an inpatient and discharged on February 24 2022.
March 2022
He was then reviewed in an outpatient clinic and in July 2022 claimed, it is believed falsely, that he was not in the country.
August 2022
A visit was made to his home, but a resident said no one of that name lived there. A summons was issued for him to appear in court the following month for assaulting an officer but he failed to appear.
September 2022
Police issued a warrant for his arrest, an arrest that was never made. That warrant was still outstanding when he killed three people.
May 2023
Just weeks before the attacks in Nottingham, Calocane attacked two colleagues at a warehouse at Kegworth in Leicestershire. After that incident, attempts were made to contact him to tell him he was not allowed back on the premises, but he didn’t respond.
June 13 2023
Calocane killed students Barnaby and Grace, before killing Ian - a 65-year-old caretaker.
He stole Mr Coates' van, using it to drive at pedestrians Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski, and Sharon Miller, who survived the attack.
Watch ITV News Central Correspondent Peter Bearne report live from outside court after the sentencing
What does Nottinghamshire Police say?
In an interview with ITV News, Nottinghamshire Police's Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin said that it would have been"very difficult to have done anything differently", and added: "We constantly debrief these kinds of operations, we’ve pored over the detail, pored over the way that we responded, the way that we started the investigation from the outset.
"I’m really confident that everything we did was thorough and professional. I wouldn’t have looked to change anything and, tragically, we couldn’t have stopped any of what happened on that night."
Calocane was arrested early that morning - Mr Griffin noted "the Ilkeston Road killings of Grace and Barnaby were at around 4am, and not long after at 5.30am we’d arrested him".
He said: "I think it was fast-moving, but we arrested him as quickly as we could."
Mr Griffin added that he knew Calocane "was sectioned, so admitted into mental health hospitals on at least four occasions, and we the police supported our mental health colleagues on numerous occasions in taking him to those hospitals."
He stated: "From a criminal perspective, a criminal history perspective, it is right to say that he doesn’t have any convictions, he doesn’t have any cautions or reprimands."
However, in a later statement released the day of sentencing, Thursday 25 January, Mr Griffin clarified his earlier comments.
He said: "I have personally reviewed this matter and we should have done more to arrest him. In my opinion it is highly unlikely that he would have received a custodial sentence for the alleged assault.
"Of course, an arrest may 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."
Watch ITV News Central Reporter Rosie Dowsing's report on the timeline of Calocane's attacks - with the CCTV footage that shows his movements
What does the NHS say?
In a statement, Ifti Majid, the Chief Executive of Nottinghamshire Health NHS Foundation Trusts, said: "Our thoughts are with the families and friends of Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates, and everyone affected by the tragic events in Nottingham in June 2023."
He added: "As well as supporting Nottinghamshire Police with their investigations, in the event of a serious incident relating to a former patient, we robustly review our own interactions with that person to identify any learning.
"In this case, the patient was under our care between May 2020 and September 2022 with episodes of care both as an inpatient and in the community as an outpatient.
"It is important to remember that this person has been convicted of a crime of the most serious kind and there are many people who live with severe mental health issues who do not offend and are supported to live well in their community."
Mr Majid continued: "We always aim to care for people in the least restrictive way and to support people to live well in their own homes and society. If a patient no longer engages with our services and support and they do not meet criteria to be detained under the Mental Health Act, they are discharged back to the care of their GP and can be referred back into our services at any time.
"Once again, I wish to send my condolences and thoughts to everyone affected by this case. We will continue to work with our partners in the Police and health services to continue to learn."
A spokesperson from NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire clarified that when Calocane was discharged back to the care of his GP, "several attempts" were made to contact him, but "no response was received."
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