Families accuse police of ‘ongoing mismanagement’ over Calocane case

The families of Nottingham triple killer Valdo Calocane’s victims said they “will not be silenced” as they continued to raise “serious concerns” about the way police have handled the case.

Nottinghamshire Police have come under fire from the relatives, who accused the force of “ongoing mismanagement” and “gagging” the press in a bid to stop details of failings being made public.

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.

Relatives of his victims reacted angrily to the sentencing, after prosecutors decided not to pursue murder charges.

A series of investigations into the actions of police, prosecutors and mental health staff continue, as the families call for “serious failures” in the case to be “fully addressed”.

Their comments came after Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable Kate Meynell said she was “horrified” after one of her officers viewed bodycam footage showing the aftermath of the attacks.

An investigation found eleven members of the force’s staff viewed material relating to the case who did not have a legitimate reason to do so. Three faced disciplinary action but eight did not, instead being handed “performance interventions”.

In a statement sent to the PA news agency on Monday by Mr Webber’s mother, Emma Webber, the families said: “We will not be silenced. This behaviour must be addressed and urgent changes made as this must not happen again to other innocent families.”

The “lengthy and detailed statement” was sent because it was of the “utmost importance that our serious concerns and ongoing mismanagement by the Nottingham Police are brought to light”, the families said.

They also criticised the force for holding an off-the-record press briefing last week, where journalists were told they could not report the information discussed.

“We cannot find any fair or reasonable rationale as to why the police force has endeavoured to shackle the media from reporting on their conduct or investigations,” the statement said.

It also claimed the chief constable had told families she was “committed to transparency in all communication” but later refused to answer additional questions from Mrs Webber.

The Home Office has been “notified of our continued grave concerns and our alarm at the gagging of the press to print news in the public interest”, the statement said, adding: “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.”

A special constable who viewed footage from the scene was sacked in December while police constable Matthew Gell was given a final written warning after a misconduct hearing in January heard he shared information about the case in a text message and had breached confidentiality standards.

Another staff member is also due to face misconduct proceedings.

Last week Ms Meynell insisted the force had taken the disciplinary matters “extremely seriously”, adding: “There’s lots of things I can’t say. And that’s not because I don’t want to, it’s because there’s the ongoing reviews into what happened.”

The force has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over its handling of the disciplinary procedures.

Downing Street previously said the Government had not ruled out launching a public inquiry to consider claims of missed opportunities to stop Calocane before the killings amid calls for a wider investigation, but so far one has not been announced.

In a statement, Nottinghamshire Police said: “The off the record background briefing advised and facilitated by the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) is standard practice and is part of Authorised Professional Practice for Policing. These briefings are not unusual.

“The family have raised a number of concerns and the appropriate way for these to be resolved is through the ongoing independent investigation by the IOPC as well as the review by the College of Policing.

“Commenting further could prejudice these investigations.

“We have written to the families of all of those affected by this horrific crime and offered to meet them.”