Families of victims of triple killer condemn Nottinghamshire Police over Valdo Calocane case
The families of the victims of triple killer Valdo Calocane have condemned police for "ongoing mismanagement" of the case including the alleged misconduct of officers involved.
Nottinghamshire Police have come under fire from the relatives, who accused the force of "ongoing mismanagement" as they continued to raise "serious concerns" about the way police have handled the case.
They also criticised the force for holding a non-reportable briefing with the press last week, accusing Nottinghamshire Police of "gagging" the media.
It comes just a week after it was revealed a special constable was sacked in December for viewing bodycam footage of victim Barnaby Webber being treated in the street following the attack, while 11 members of staff viewed material relating to the case who did not have a legitimate reason to do so.
The constable's dismissal comes after Nottinghamshire Police has faced separate criticism for multiple cases of misconduct.
This includes 'graphic and crude' WhatsApp messages shared between officers over the attacks.
In a separate misconduct hearing in January, police officer Matt Gell received a final written warning after sharing information about the attacks by text message and breaching confidentiality. PC Gell said that this was a "mistake".
Another officer has also received "management intervention".
Barnaby and Grace, both 19, were walking home from an end-of-term night out when they were stabbed repeatedly by Valdo Calocane in Ilkeston Road, Radford, near their student accommodation.
Valdo Caolcane then went on to attack caretaker Ian Coates, before stealing his van and crashing it into three pedestrians on June 13 2023.
Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order last month for stabbing to death university students Barnaby Webber, 19, and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, in the early hours of June 13 last year.
He admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility and pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of three people who were hit by a van stolen from Mr Coates, after Nottingham Crown Court heard he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
'We will not be silenced'
In a joint statement, the families said: "The Home Office have been notified of our continued grave concerns and our alarm at the gagging of the press to print news in the public interest.
"We currently await the response of the Home Secretary and have also written to the leader of the opposition, Keir Starmer, to ask for a further meeting with him and his shadow ministers.
"We understand that this is a lengthy and detailed statement, however feel that it is of the utmost importance that our serious concerns and ongoing mismanagement by the Nottingham Police are brought to light.
"We will not be silenced.
"This behaviour must be addressed and urgent changes made as this must not happen again to other innocent families."
Nottinghamshire Police has said it had not wanted to publicly disclose information that might compromise an ongoing review into Calocane's sentence, a review by the College of Policing and an investigation by the IOPC and until they had all concluded.
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