Grace O'Malley-Kumar family will fight forever to make sure killer not released

12 February 2024 , 11:30

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Grace O'Malley-Kumar family will fight forever to make sure killer not released

Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar 's heartbroken parents appeared on Monday's Good Morning Britain after Valdo Calocane was sentenced for killing their children and school caretaker Ian Coates.

Barnaby was killed alongside his friend Grace in Nottingham last June as they made their way home from a night out, with paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane also going on to kill Ian Coates. Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order for killing Barnaby, Grace and Ian last month, and relatives have criticised the Crown Prosecution Service for accepting Calocane’s guilty pleas to manslaughter.

Talking on Monday's Good Morning Britain, Grace's parents, Dr Sanjoy Kumar and Dr Sinead O'Malley said they will fight for the rest of their life to make sure Calocane isn't released in the future. Sinead said: "Ultimately we want from our point of view as parents this Calocane has to stay in hospital forever or in prison forever."

Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar's heartbroken parents appeared on Monday's Good Morning Britain (ITV)

Sinead added: "Forever, for the rest of our lives going forward, we will have to write to the Minister of Justice to ensure that [Calocane isn't released]. When we're gone, it'll be our son who will be making sure." Grace's father said: "Our son, or our children, Webber's children and future children will have to keep fighting to make sure he's not released. It's the most ridiculous situation.

"[They have to] worry about this person coming out, it may not be in our lifetime but it maybe within their lifetime. This man needs to be locked away, he needs to be locked away for life, whether it's prison or hospital. He needs to be put away for life."

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It comes as Grace's father said having to continue to campaign for murder charges had made the "grief worse" and "saps energy". He told BBC Breakfast: "We as a family feel completely broken. After you’ve been through something horrendous like this, you should have the end result you wanted.

"You should be able to draw a line in the sand and you should be able to move on. The fact that we have to carry on with our fight – it saps energy, it makes the grief worse. And every time we do something like this, it circles back to the horrible events of June 13.

"It’s literally like peeling a scab off a wound every time – every meeting that we have to go to, everyone that we have to challenge. It’s absolutely awful and it’s very tough on our family."

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Olivia Wheeler