29 January 2024 , 17:39
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Leicestershire Police has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over its investigation into assaults allegedly committed by Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane in May 2023 - weeks before he killed three people.
The 32-year-old was convicted last week of stabbing to death 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, last June. A judge handed down a hospital order to the killer, who has paranoid schizophrenia, when his pleas to manslaughter by diminished responsibility were accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service.
During last week's sentencing last week in early May 2023 - around five weeks before he killed the trio - Calocane started working in a warehouse in Kegworth, Leicestershire, where he was accused of attacking two employees. In a statement, the IOPC said it asked Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire Police to establish "if any matters should be referred".
It continued: "Following the sentencing of Valdo Calocane several incidents involving previous police contact with him have been brought to our attention which we were unaware of. As a result, we asked Nottinghamshire Police and Leicestershire Police to provide us with information promptly about those incidents to establish whether there are any matters that should be referred to us.
"We have this afternoon received a referral from Leicestershire Police about its investigation into assaults Valdo Calocane was alleged to have committed on May 5 2023, which we are assessing to determine what further action may be required from us. In relation to a warrant being issued for Mr Calocane's arrest in 2022, Nottinghamshire Police provided us with information about that shortly after the tragic events of June 13 2023.
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Calocane's victims Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar (PA)"We decided it did not meet our referral criteria because the contact had not been recent and no conduct issues were identified for any individual officer. Nottinghamshire Police subsequently carried out an internal review of matters linked to the warrant and we have now also requested details of that learning exercise, in case there are any issues that would require our involvement."
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In a statement last week Nottinghamshire Police Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin explained how the force referred itself to the IPOC shortly after his arrest in June 2013. He said: "“The devastating impact the events of 13 June have had and continue to have for the families of those killed and those who survived these dreadful attacks are immeasurable. I have personally reviewed this matter and we should have done more to arrest him. In my opinion it is highly unlikely he would have received a custodial sentence for the alleged assault.
“Of course, an arrest may have triggered a route back into mental health services, but as we have seen from his previous encounters with those services, it seems unlikely that he would have engaged in this process. On June 13, we acted fast and efficiently to take this dangerous offender off the streets of Nottingham.
“We referred ourselves to the IOPC after his arrest. This was because in the minutes before his arrest he was being followed by a police vehicle and ran over two pedestrians. This is a standard procedure when a crime occurs while a defendant is being followed by police. The IOPC investigated this matter and said we followed all relevant guidelines. This was one of the darkest days in our city’s history and our officers will continue to support all those families affected by this horrific crime.”