Triple killer's father hopes inquiry leads to change

The father of a man who killed three people in Nottingham has said he hopes a public inquiry into the attacks will help prevent further tragedies.

Valdo Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020, stabbed to death Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates and tried to kill three others on 13 June 2023.

In a written statement, which was published by Nottingham Inquiry on Friday, Amissão Calocane said he believed the attacks could have been prevented if his son had received the right mental health treatment.

The judge-led inquiry, which ended on Friday, heard from 164 witnesses over 14 weeks, as the lead-up to the attacks and the aftermath were examined.

In the statement, Amissão said he thought his son would be properly treated by healthcare services and "things would get better" after an incident on 24 May 2020, when Valdo kicked in the door of a woman's flat 11 minutes after being released from custody during a psychotic episode.

The inquiry heard the woman fell from a window as she attempted to flee, and was left needing metalwork and screws surgically fitted to her spine.

Valdo had attempted to force entry into a nearby flat in the early hours, believing his mother was being raped inside the property, and was subsequently arrested.

Minutes after he was released from custody, police were called to the incident involving the woman who fractured her spine.

Amissão said: "After the first incident with Valdo in May 2020, we thought he would be assessed, properly treated and things would get better.

"He was under the care of mental health services between 2020 and 2023 but throughout his care, no-one ever took the time to properly treat him and assess what kind of illness he had.

"They only ever kept him in hospital for short amounts of time, but that wasn't enough time for him to get the proper treatment.

"These were missed opportunities for Valdo when he should have been admitted for longer periods of time."

Valdo was under the care of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust from May 2020 to September 2022, when he was discharged back to his GP due to a lack of engagement.

He was sectioned four times within that period and had a history of violence and aggression when he was unwell, the inquiry heard.

Former chairman of the trust's board, Paul Devlin, accepted lessons were not learned until "far too late" - and steps could have been taken earlier to help avoid the Nottingham attacks.

The killer's brother Elias and mum Celeste both gave oral evidence and were questioned by barristers at the inquiry last month.

Amissão's written witness statements have now been published by the inquiry, although the bereaved families had called for him to also appear in person.

He said he first started to worry about his son's mental health when he was at university in 2020, and realised the symptoms were "part of a bigger problem and something more serious" after Valdo's arrest in May 2020.

However, he said by 2022, he believed his son was taking his medication.

"It was hard for us as a family because Valdo was so far away from us and it was difficult to see how he really was. We only knew how he was from how he sounded over the phone and he seemed to be OK," Amissão said.

He said he was not aware there was a warrant issued for Valdo's arrest in September 2022 or that he had assaulted two of his colleagues at a warehouse in May 2023, weeks before his killings.

He said he received a call from his son the evening before the attacks at 22:52 BST on 12 June 2023.

"Our conversation on 12 June 2023 wasn't any different to conversations we had had before, so I wasn't particularly worried about him," Amissão said.

He said he learned of the attacks his son had carried out when he came home from work the next day and his wife and daughter showed him the news on TV.

"At first, I couldn't believe it was true.

"It took me a long time to accept the reality of what happened - it wasn't until I saw the videos of Valdo that I realised what he had done," he said.

"I am so sorry for what happened. I hope this inquiry can help to stop tragedies like this happening again."

He added: "If Valdo had received the treatment he needed, it could have stopped what happened.

"We need to do better to prevent other tragic incidents like this happening again. If lessons are not learnt from this, the same failures could continue to happen and nothing would change."

Now oral evidence has concluded, the core participants of the inquiry will share closing statements at hearings in September, before the chair of the inquiry - retired senior judge Deborah Taylor KC - is expected to release a report with her recommendations next year.

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