A public inquiry has heard how the triple killer sought to ‘cover his tracks’ days before his attacks
Dr Sanjoy Kumar, holding a red rose for his daughter Grace, in Nottingham on the second anniversary of Calocane’s attacks(Image: Joseph Raynor/Nottingham Post)
The father of one of the Nottingham attacks victims maintains his 19-year-old daughter was taken by a man of “sound mind” after new evidence about the killer’s planning came to light.
A statutory public inquiry into the tragic events of June 13, 2023, has already heard that Valdo Calocane sought to “cover his tracks” days before his brutal killings by asking for employment records to be deleted.
Further evidence has now emerged of the triple killer writing a letter in prison outlining “concerns” about his representation and that he wanted a new legal team – which eventually happened.
Calocane also became “paranoid” when notes about changing his legal team were found in his prison cell and he specifically asked that those notes should not be sent on to anybody.
Coupled with evidence already heard about the morning of the attacks, particularly that Calocane was stopping at traffic lights whilst using a van to try and murder people, Dr Sanjoy Kumar maintains that Calocane is simply a “bully.”
A diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia meant that Calocane was not sentenced for murdering 19-year-old Barnaby Webber, 19-year-old Grace O’Malley-Kumar and 65-year-old Ian Coates.
The 34-year-old was instead sentenced to an indefinite hospital order after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility by virtue of his mental health.
That sentence, which has been disputed by all the families of Calocane’s victims from the off, now means he is detained at the high security Ashworth Hospital, rather than prison.
Yet Dr Kumar, Grace’s father, says latest evidence heard at the Nottingham Inquiry on Thursday (March 19) has solidified in his mind that Calocane knew what he was doing in the early hours of June 13.
Thursday’s hearing began with a witness statement being read out on behalf of Dr Kripa Ullal, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at HMP Manchester.
Valdo Calocane assaulting an officer after getting out the police van (Image: Nottingham Inquiry)
Calocane was transferred to HMP Manchester from Nottingham on June 20 and was soon admitted to the regional bed wing, where individuals suspected of having underlying mental illness are provided with additional support.
Dr Ullal says she met with Valdo Calocane on three occasions during his time at Manchester and describing his presentation on the first visit, on June 27, Dr Ullal said: “Throughout the interview he was noted to be guarded, suspicious and was noted to be smiling incongruently. Staff advised me that he remained close to his television watching television all day.”
Yet in later reports, after Calocane had met with a defence psychiatrist, Dr Ullal notes he has moved from being “guarded” to openly discussing how he hears “commanding” male voices in his head providing a “running commentary” on his actions.
“All of a sudden his behaviour goes from normal, calm and quiet to showing all of those symptoms”, Dr Kumar told Nottinghamshire Live. “When he’s seen again by Dr Ullal, this guy’s completely changed.”
Several papers were recovered from Calocane’s cell in HMP Manchester, and in one of them, he writes a very well-articulated letter about him changing his legal team.
Calocane’s letter, shown to the inquiry, reads: “I have a few concerns about the relationship with the current team.
“There have been what I thought to be crucial periods when the team was unreachable and thus we were unable to have productive discussions about some of my concerns. I have found a new legal team and we had discussions to ensure the best arrangement.”
Emily Doherty, a senior social worker based at Rampton Hospital, later gave evidence and a report from her about her assessment of Calocane was referenced.
The report said that Calocane had asked for letters found in his cell at HMP Manchester not to be sent to anyone else.
Families of the attack victims pictured in Ilkeston Road in Nottingham on the second anniversary of the killings(Image: Joseph Raynor/Nottingham Post)
Ms Doherty says: “I probed him a little bit about some of the letters that had been found in his cell and his demeanour shifted rapidly.
“He went from coming across as open, both verbally and non-verbally, to having a bit more of a fixed stare, his facial expression changed, he became very defensive and paranoid about me having read those letters and who could possibly have had access to them.”
Dr Kumar, who himself has an extensive background working with violent patients and as a forensic examiner for the police, told Nottinghamshire Live: “I think on the day of the attacks, I think this man was completely sound of mind until you prove me wrong.
“When you have schizophrenia, you dip in and out of it. You have a good day and then one day you wake up and you’re not.
“This man selected people weaker than him. He does not pick on anyone bigger than him walking down the street.
“He’s a violent bully. He picks on a girl and a bloke half his age and an elderly gentleman.”
Dr Kumar also believes though that Nottinghamshire Police’s failings in terms of Calocane’s past incidents are paramount, saying in terms of past assaults: “I’m convinced if you had put him in front of a magistrate, I think he would have changed his path.
“The problem is he never got to court. I think VC had the nous to be able to say, ‘I don’t fancy this life in prison’. He’s a clever guy.” The inquiry will continue on Friday (March 20) hearing crucial evidence from Nottinghamshire Police’s Chief Constable at the time of the attacks, Kate Meynell.
