Mum's 'body ran cold' after tracking son's phone to police station after attack

27 January 2024 , 09:05

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Emma Webber spoke movingly to media after the sentencing (Image: Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)

The mum of one of the three victims of last year’s Nottingham rampage has recalled the horror moment she realised her son had been killed.

On June 13 last year, Valdo Calocane brutally attacked and killed university students Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19, as they walked back from a night out at 4am.

After leaving them to die in the street the 32-year-old, also known as Adam Mendes, tried to break into a hostel, before stabbing beloved school caretaker Ian Coates to death, as he made his way to work, and stealing his van. The 65-year-old had been five months from retirement at the time.

Calocane took his van and rammed into three people. First swerving across the road to hit Wayne Birkett, and then hitting Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller as they waited to cross the road. Following this, police were able to catch up with, and Taser and arrest Calocane.

This week he was given an indefinite stay in a high security hospital, after the judge said he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia and was a danger to society.

Man in 30s dies after being stabbed in park sparking police probe

Calocane had his guilty to manslaughter and not guilty to murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility plea accepted by the prosecution. But the families of the three victims claimed there had been a miscarriage of justice, and spoke movingly after court. Barnaby’s mum Emma said they had been “railroaded” and that they had “foolishly” trusted in the system.

Now, speaking to the Mail, the mum has revealed the moment that she realised something had happened to her beloved teenage son. Mum Emma and dad David had been at their holiday lodge in north Cornwall when Calocane hid in the shadows along Ilkeston Road, and launched the horrific attack on the two first year students. He first stabbed Barnaby in the back, then after Grace tried to fight him off, turned on her too.

Beloved son and big brother Barnaby Webber (PA)

Emma was on a work call around 9am as news outlets across the country continued to report on a major incident in Nottingham city centre. Speaking to the Mail, she said: "It said a man and a woman had been killed. I didn't think of my son as a man. He's 19. He's my boy. I said to my work colleagues, 'Sorry, I'm a bit distracted. There's something going on in Nottingham. I'm sure it's all fine. I just want to make sure Barney's okay.'"

Grace tried to fight Calocane off before he turned his attack to her (PA)

The parents kept trying to ring their son but got no answer. Dad Dave said Barnaby may have been a bit hungover after enjoying a night out, so the parents checked on the Find My Phone app, to see where their son was. It said he was on Ilkeston Road, a road neither of them recognised and after ringing again, and not getting through, they began to worry.

Ian Coates was five months from retirement

The worried mum also texted Barnaby’s friends who said he wasn’t in his room either. It was then that they read on the news that the incident had taken place on Ilkeston Road - where Barnaby’s phone was. Emma said: "My body just went cold. Then his phone started moving. We thought he'd picked it up. We were ringing and ringing but still no one was answering. That's when we saw it had been taken to the police station."

The families of the three victims described feeling let down by the justice system (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)

She described that as the worst moment, and said she hadn’t been able to look at the app since. The parents threw their stuff and dogs into a car and made their way to Nottingham, but had only been driving for a handful of minutes when police called.

Holding out hope to the last minute, the mum’s world was shattered into a thousand pieces as police delivered the news no parents should ever have to receive. Quickly, their instincts kicked in and they decided they had to get Barnaby’s younger brother Charlie. The family’s youngest had been in Torquay with his school, meaning the parents had to contact them to break the news, saying it for the first time aloud.

Valdo Calocane had previously attended the same university (PA)

Teachers had separated Charlie from his classmate, as the news of the tragic incident spread, and when they arrived, Emma and David had to break the news to their youngest child.

Kieren Williams