Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane’s sentence not unduly lenient

Grieving families of the victims of Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane have suffered fresh agony after appeal judges ruled his sentence was not unduly lenient.

Calocane was given an indefinite hospital order for the manslaughter of three people in Nottingham last year – and the Court of Appeal in London today refused to change the sentence. 

The paranoid schizophrenic ‘brutally’ stabbed to death students Barney Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, in the early hours of June 13 last year.

His victims’ families wanted him put on trial for murder but in January this year Nottingham Crown Court accepted his guilty plea to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. 

In a statement following the appeal court’s decision, Barney’s mother Emma Webber today said the families ‘now face their own life sentence’ of ensuring Calocane is not released – while Grace’s father called the ruling ‘disappointing’ and criticised police and mental health services for failures ahead of the killings.

The Attorney General referred the sentence to the Court of Appeal in February.

Lawyers argued last week that Calocane should be given a ‘hybrid’ order where he would be treated before serving the remainder of the sentence in custody.

But three senior judges dismissed the bid today, stating that while Calocane’s offences caused ‘unimaginable grief’, his sentence was not unduly lenient as his paranoid schizophrenia was ‘the sole identified cause of these crimes’.

In a statement following the Court of Appeal’s decision not to change the sentence of Valdo Calocane, Barnaby’s mother Emma Webber said: ‘Today’s ruling comes as no surprise to the families of the Nottingham attack victims.

‘It was inevitable and was not a review of anything other than the letter of the law as it stands.

‘Despite the fact that the Attorney General herself feels that Valdo Calocane did not receive the appropriate sentence, today’s outcome proves how utterly flawed and under-resourced the criminal justice system in the UK is. It also illustrates the need for urgent reforms in the UK homicide law.

‘The fact remains, despite the words of the judge, that almost 90 per cent of people serving hospital orders are out within 10 years and 98 per cent within 20 years.

‘In effect, the families now face their own life sentence of ensuring the monster that is Valdo Calocane becomes the next Ian Brady or Fred West and is never released.

‘Given the failed investigation carried out by Nottingham Police, the weak prosecution put forward by East Midlands CPS and the over-reliance on doctors’ reports, there was probably no other conclusion that could be made.

‘The families have raised their concerns already with the Government with regard to obvious errors and omissions that have resulted in this tragedy.’

Giving the court’s judgment, the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr earlier said: ‘There was no error in the approach adopted by the judge. The sentences imposed were not arguably unduly lenient.’

Calocane, who attended via a video link from Ashworth high-security hospital near Liverpool, did not react as the judges gave their decision.

In her summary, Baroness Carr said: ‘It is impossible to read of the circumstances of this offending without the greatest possible sympathy for the victims of these terrible attacks, and their family and friends.

‘The victim impact statements paint a graphic picture of the appalling effects of the offender’s conduct.

‘Had the offender not suffered the mental condition that he did, the sentencing judge would doubtless have been considering a whole life term. 

‘But neither the judge nor this court can ignore the medical evidence as to the offender’s condition which led to these dreadful events or the threat to public safety which the offender continues to pose.’

Dr Sanjoy Kumar and Dr Sinead O’Malley, the parents of Ms O’Malley-Kumar, attended the Royal Courts of Justice today while the relatives of Mr Webber and Mr Coates did not appear. 

Speaking outside court afterwards, Dr Kumar called the ruling ‘disappointing, but not unexpected’.

He told reporters: ‘The Nottingham attacks were entirely preventable. Nottinghamshire Police failed to produce a warrant for many months, a flawed investigation, no toxicology, over-reliance on psychiatric reports.

‘Leicestershire Police failed to arrest Valdo Calocane. This is a failure of two police forces, a failure of the mental health trust, along with Nottinghamshire Council as well.

‘Missed multiple opportunities to prevent the Nottingham attacks and the murder of our children and Ian Coates is what has led us here today.

‘We have continued to pursue agencies that failed us and hold them responsible for the Nottingham attacks, so that no other family is made to suffer like ours.

‘We thank everyone for the outpouring of support for our brave and beautiful daughter, Grace.’

Calocane fatally stabbed students Mr Webber and Ms O’Malley-Kumar as they walked home from a night out in the early hours of June 13 last year, before killing Mr Coates and stealing his van.

He then used the vehicle to knock down three pedestrians, Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller, in Nottingham city centre before being arrested.

Mr Justice Turner, sentencing judge at the Nottingham Crown Court trial, told Calocane that his ‘sickening crimes’ meant he would be detained indefinitely in a high-security hospital ‘very probably for the rest of your life’.

He also ruled that Calocane should be subject to further restrictions if ever discharged from hospital, which would need to be approved by the Justice Secretary.

The families of the victims criticised the sentence, with Mr Webber’s mother Emma telling reporters outside court: ‘True justice has not been served today.’

While a later review found that prosecutors were right to accept Calocane’s pleas, Attorney General Victoria Prentis referred the sentence to the Court of Appeal, describing the killings as ‘horrific’.

At the hearing in London last Wednesday, Deanna Heer, representing the Attorney General’s Office, said Calocane’s ‘extreme’ crimes warranted ‘the imposition of a sentence with a penal element, an element of punishment’.

But Peter Joyce, for Calocane, said none of the offences would have been committed ‘but for the psychosis’ and that imposing a hybrid order would mean he would be ‘punished for being mentally ill’.

Mrs Webber’s statement in response to today’s Appeal Court judgment criticise dhow there was no mention of previous police failures to execute warrants for Calocane’s arrest nor earlier violent attacks he committed.

She also said there were ‘no questions about why he received no mental health assessment in custody, no treatment until mid September and remained in prison until November.

She added: ‘Also, no questioning of why the defence doctor assessed him in July but did not release his report until October and why the CPS doctor did not see him until mid November.

‘There are many, many more serious questions that the families will now continue to fight to get answered.

‘We do not and never will agree that the vicious, calculated and planned attacks carried out were that of an individual who was at zero level of capability.

‘We have never disputed that he is mentally unwell – however, he knew what he was doing, he knew that it was wrong; but he did it anyway. There should be an element of punishment for such a heinous act alongside appropriate treatment.

‘This is just one part of the fight for justice and appropriate accountability for failures that the families have been forced to endure. So far, there have been no less than eight individual reports, reviews and investigations.

‘We do not believe that there is any chance these can be cohesive enough to ensure a full and detailed outcome, and therefore call for a public inquiry.’