25 January 2024 , 10:08
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A man who “brutally massacred” three people in Nottingham is the “most evil person on the planet”, a victim’s sons said.
Valdo Calocane, 32, was living with paranoid schizophrenia when he stabbed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, to death with a dagger in the early hours of last June 13.
The killer, a graduate of the University of Nottingham, is expected to be sentenced today at Nottingham Crown Court after admitting the manslaughter of the three victims by reason of diminished responsibility. He also admitted three counts of attempted murder relating to pedestrians he deliberately targeted with a van he had stolen from Mr Coates.
Speaking ahead of his sentencing, Mr Coates’s son James said he feels “hatred” towards his father’s killer. He told the BBC: “He is, to me, the most evil person on this planet. He went out and brutally massacred three people and then attempted to kill another three, but luckily he was caught.”
School caretaker Ian Coates (Miro Photography)
Grace O'Malley-Kumar pictured (PA)Lee Coates, another of the school caretaker’s sons, said he was “super angry” but trying to stay composed as Calocane’s sentencing continues for a third day. He described his actions as “calculated and premeditated”, adding: “He has to spend his life behind bars, otherwise we have been let down once again by this country and this judicial system.”
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Judge Mr Justice Turner, who will sentence Calocane, will decide between imposing a “hybrid” life sentence with a hospital direction or a hospital order under the Mental Health Act. On Wednesday, Calocane’s barrister Peter Joyce KC urged the judge not to consider a whole-life order, saying paranoid schizophrenia is an “unwanted visitor” which “stalked down” a man of previously impeccable character and behaviour.
Barnaby Webber pictured (PA)The court has been told that Calocane suffered an extensive history of mental health issues and his paranoid schizophrenia was “untreatable”. As a result of that, he heard voices in his head; it got so bad that he, at one point, went to MI5 asking them to make it stop.
Dr Ross Mirvis is a psychiatric expert treating Calocane at Ashworth Hospital where he is held in isolation and can only see visitors through glass, and he gave evidence to the court. Peter Joyce KC, for Calocane, asked Dr Mirvis: "He told you the voices in his head were a mixture of male and female?"
The doctor replied: "Correct." Mr Joyce asked: "They (the voices) could be insulting, telling him to fight hospital staff?" He replied: "He said that at times." Mr Joyce said: "He told you the 2023 attacks happened because the voices said if he did not do as he was told they would kill his family?" Dr Mirvis replied: "Yes."