The families of the victims of Valdo Calocane hit out at the police after he was sentenced to a hospital order. Nottinghamshire Police has come under fire for missing opportunities to stop Calocane, who was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the attack.
news.sky.com
It was revealed this week that a warrant for Calocane’s arrest was outstanding at the time of the attacks, after he failed to appear in court nine months earlier for an alleged assault of a police officer while he was being sectioned. [Note this contradicts earlier articles.]
Calocane, 32, who goes by the name Adam Mendes, denied murdering O’Malley-Kumar, Webber and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates but admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility due to suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.
He also admitted the attempted murder of three other people who he ran over in a van. After the crown accepted his pleas, Calocane was sentenced at Nottingham crown court today.
Mr Justice Turner...
said Calocane would 'very probably' be detained for the rest of his life after 'deliberately and mercilessly' stabbing his victims. He said Calocane’s condition was 'resistant to treatment' and could not be cured, and he 'remained dangerous'.
Janine McKinney
from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said the expert medical evidence was 'overwhelming' and concluded Calocane’s actions 'were substantially impaired' by psychosis caused by his paranoid schizophrenia.
The 32-year-old has been handed a hospital order, meaning he will be detained in a high-security hospital indefinitely.
He will be held in Ashworth Hospital in Maghull, near Liverpool.
Valdo Calocane was given a hospital order for manslaughter by diminished responsibility after stabbing Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates to death.
news.sky.com
The CPS decision to accept the manslaughter pleas of the Nottingham attacker who killed three people is to be examined in an independent review.
The review will look into the decision to accept Valdo Calocane's guilty pleas to manslaughter and whether it sufficiently consulted the families of the victims.
On Tuesday Attorney General Victoria Prentis
said: "The senseless deaths of Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates have horrified the country. While nothing will bring their loved ones back, the families understandably want to understand what happened in this case. That's why I have asked the inspectorate to carry out a prompt and thorough review of CPS actions so we can properly investigate the concerns raised by the families in this devastating case."
Ms Prentis is also considering whether judges should review the sentence after receiving a submission that it could be unduly lenient.
Earlier, Rishi Sunak
said independent investigations have been set up into Nottingham institutions' role in alleged missed opportunities to stop Calocane.
It came a day after a meeting with the families of Mr Webber and Ms O'Malley-Kumar in Downing Street.
Mr Sunak said the NHS, police forces and CPS will all be looked at 'promptly and thoroughly and effectively' to try to get answers for the families.
Leicestershire Police have referred themselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and leaders at Nottinghamshire Police have met Policing Minister Chris Philp.
Calocane, 32, stabbed to death Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar, and Ian Coates in Nottingham in June last year.
news.sky.com
Prosecutors were correct to accept Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane's manslaughter by diminished responsibility pleas rather than pursue a murder case, the CPS inspectorate has found.
The report said: 'It is understandable why the bereaved families find the decision by the CPS to accept the pleas of not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter difficult to accept. Their loved ones were violently killed by an offender who knew what he was doing was wrong and who intended to kill them. The term manslaughter has the perception to underplay the gravity of what has taken place.'
The report made two recommendations - the first that, by October 2024, the CPS must undertake a review of guidance relating to victims' engagement to ensure all staff are aware when the use of the terms 'consult' or 'consultation' is appropriate.
It also recommended that the government consider whether homicide should be categorised into three tiers - first degree murder, second degree murder in cases of diminished responsibility, and manslaughter.
Under such a system - recommended by the Law Commission in 2006 - the unlawful killings in this case would have been categorised as murder, albeit second degree murder, according to the report.
Other investigations into the actions of police and mental health staff continue.
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