29 January 2024 , 23:12
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Grace O'Malley-Kumar's brother has delivered a statement in memory of his sister, who was killed after making a valiant attempt to save her friend during the Nottingham attack.
In June 2023, the 19-year-old tried to apprehend Valdo Calocane, after he attacked her good friend, Barnaby Webber. The harrowing incident took place during an end-of-exams night out. At the time, Prosecutor Karim Khalil KC, said the student had exhibited "incredible bravery" by trying to protect Barnaby from Calocane's blows and tried to fight him off, pushing him away and into the road." Sadly, Calocane delivered two fatal blows that tragically took the youngsters' lives, before proceeding to stab and kill 65-year-old cleaner, Ian Coates.
The devastating attack has rendered her entire family devastated, with her brother coming forward to speak about his experience and honour his sister during a meeting with Rishi Sunak at Number 10 Downing Street, where he stressed the importance of a thorough investigation.
He said: "We're not in a rush, we've lost our loved ones now, we've lost Grace, we've lost Ian (Coates), we've lost Barnaby (Webber) - we want (an investigation into the attacks) to be as thorough as possible to make sure those gaps are filled and the relevant people have been held accountable. The Prime Minister said that there are plenty of options that could be taken (including) the public inquiry."
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When asked how he'd been feeling since the incident, he replied: "I'm not coping well; I've lost my best friend, I've been lost since June 13, and I'm struggling immensely, but this is what I can do to make my sister proud, so I will do everything I can. That's why I'm here today."
While she is no longer here in person, Grace's astonishing bravery in the face of danger will be remembered for a very long time to come, with ex-Chief Supt Dal Babu suggesting that she deserves a George Cross medal for her remarkable effort to save her friend. As per The Sun, he said: “Grace tried to save Barnaby. We should be looking at some sort of George Cross medal.”
Valdo Calocane committed the harrowing attack (PA)Meanwhile, 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. 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.
"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."