Blood, urine and hair samples never taken from Nottingham killer as he 'refused'
A failure to take toxicology samples from triple killer Valdo Calocane means he could have avoided a tougher sentence, it has been claimed.
Calocane, 32, who went on a rampage through Nottingham last year, will be detained at a high security hospital indefinitely. He was suffering from 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 Nottingham in the early hours of last June 13.
Despite initially facing murder charges, the prosecution eventually accepted guilty pleas on charges of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. The Attorney General has ordered an independent review of the Crown Prosecution Service’s handling of the Nottingham stabbing case, as Rishi Sunak promised victims’ families that “we will get the answers”.
Calocane reportedly refused to give blood and urine samples and forensic officers never took hair from him which would also have shown if he had been taking drugs.
If he had been found to have been taking drugs that would have ruined his case for a lesser sentence for the killings. However toxicology samples were taken from the three victims due to the possibility of evidence of drugs or alcohol giving Calocane an argument for self defence, reports The Sun.
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An inspection announced by Attorney General Victoria Prentis last Tuesday will look into the CPS’s decision to accept Calocane’s guilty pleas to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility and whether it sufficiently consulted with the victims’ families.
Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar (PA)Mr Webber’s family described the hospital order as a “huge insult” and called for a public inquiry into the case. Speaking after the sentencing hearing, Mr Webber’s mother Emma Webber said the bereaved families were “presented with a fait accompli that the decision had been made to accept manslaughter charges” when they met the CPS in November.
“At no point during the previous five-and-a-half-months were we given any indication that this could conclude in anything other than murder.” Ms Prentis said she ordered the urgent CPS review, to be carried out by His Majesty’s CPS Inspectorate, “so we can properly investigate the concerns raised by the families”.
The Prime Minister said independent investigations have been set up into Nottingham institutions’ role in alleged missed opportunities to stop Calocane before his deadly stabbings.
Barnaby Webber's family (PA)An inquiry could still happen, Mr Sunak said, but only if deemed necessary once the probes have concluded. In an interview with ITV’s This Morning on Tuesday, a day after a meeting with the victims’ relatives in Downing Street, Mr Sunak said: “What they’ve expressed to me are a bunch of questions about what’s happened that they have.
“How did the NHS operate? Was mental health properly checked? How was the police investigation conducted? How was the Crown Prosecution Service operating and interacting with them? I think those are all perfectly reasonable questions. What I said to them is that we will get the answers. That’s what they deserve. That’s what I’ve committed to.
Sinead O'Malley and Dr Sanjoy Kumar (Joseph Raynor/ Nottingham Post)“We’ve set up investigations, independent ones, into all those areas I mentioned. The NHS, the Crown Prosecution Service, the police forces. So, they’re all going to be looked at independently so we can get those answers. That’s going to happen promptly and thoroughly and effectively, as quickly as possible.
“Once we hear back from that, then we can sit down with them and decide if there are more questions that need answering. Is the inquiry then the next logical step?”
The Mirror has contacted Nottinghamshire Police for comment.
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