Nottingham attacks killer 'stalked flatmate twice' before stabbings

29 February 2024 , 20:26

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Valdo Calocane (Image: PA)

A flatmate of Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane told police that he was twice stalked by him, it is reported.

Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order last month for stabbing to death university students Barnaby Webber, 19, and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, in the early hours of June 13 last year. He admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility and pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of three people who were hit by a van stolen from Mr Coates, after Nottingham Crown Court heard he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Families of the victims have said they "will not be silenced" as they continued to raise "serious concerns" about the way police have handled the case. Nottinghamshire Police have come under fire from the relatives, who accused the force of "ongoing mismanagement" and "gagging" the press in a bid to stop details of failings being made public.

And now, Nottinghamshire Live has taken the decision that it is in the public interest to report details from a non-disclosure briefing with police on details regarding their contact with Calocane before he committed the killings, where a flatmate twice reported being stalked by him.

Journalists covering the horrific attacks were invited to a 'non-disclosure' briefing with Nottinghamshire Police on February 22, relating to the ongoing investigation into the deaths. They were allowed into the call to hear from Chief Constable Kate Meynell but had to commit in writing not to reveal any details from the briefing.

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And it was said that on April 26, 2022, one of Calocane's former flatmates reported being stalked by him after seeing him in the gym. In July 2022 the same person reported being stalked again by Calocane, with this incident officially reported and logged as stalking by police. This came after the alleged stalking victim had been to the same gym and said he was followed home by Calocane.

It is understood the victim did not want further action to be taken in both cases and police were not able to locate Calocane. It has previously been reported that he had been involved in a fight with a flatmate in early 2022, but it is not clear whether this was the same person.

Nottingham attacks killer 'stalked flatmate twice' before stabbings

Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar (PA)

The force apologised on Wednesday, February 21, after it emerged families had not been informed of the multiple investigations into officers and staff who had accessed information about the attacks, despite having no policing justification to do so. Chief Constable Kate Meynell in the briefing said: "It was not the right time to inform the family. Upon reflection, there probably was never a right time."

The victims' families have consistently criticised the investigation and conduct of Nottinghamshire Police, with Mr Webber's mum, Emma, stating Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin had "blood on [his] hands" for failing to capture Calocane after he assaulted a police officer in September 2022. A warrant was issued for his arrest but he was never tracked down.

Chief Constable Meynell has since accepted there were 'failings around the warrant and the way we communicated professional standards hearings.' A Special Constable viewed body-worn video footage of the two teenage University of Nottingham students being treated by medics on Ilkeston Road on his laptop, which was slammed by Barnaby's mum as "'abhorrent voyeurism". He was dismissed at a behind-closed-doors accelerated misconduct hearing.

The victims' families were also outraged at not being told about the conduct hearing of police officer Matt Gell where it was said that he along with several other officers, received a WhatsApp message in their shift group regarding the attacks, with the message being described as "distasteful".

The message was written by another officer and, after receiving messages from his wife and a friend asking about the situation in Nottingham city centre, PC Gell forwarded the message to them - which he admitted was "a mistake". He received a final written warning after the hearing was told he had shared information about the attacks in a text message and breached confidentiality standards. Another officer received "management intervention".

In a statement released to the media on Monday, Emma Webber said she had been denied the chance to speak to officers in the WhatsApp group. "The Chief Constable has advised all families that she is committed to transparency in all communication, however in a reply to Mrs Webber's request for more information regarding the conversation of the WhatsApp group and number of officers involved she has advised that she will not be prepared to answer any further questions," the statement said.

"She has also denied Mrs Webber the opportunity to deliver a message to the officers involved in the WhatsApp group to explain how the unprofessional and cruel language used has hurt the families even more."

Nottinghamshire Police has claimed it cannot publicly disclose the information given out in the briefing as it could prejudice current Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) investigations into their contact with Calocane - despite it being information the policing watchdog should already be aware of. Nottinghamshire Live said it had published the information because it believes that the families of the victims and the public should know about it including the contact between the police and Calocane.