Full Breakdown
Nottingham Stabbing Inquiry Finds Barnaby Webber’s Death “Potentially Preventable”
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Findings of the Public Inquiry
The inquiry into the 13 June 2023 Nottingham attacks examined the deaths of 19-year-old Barnaby Weber, 19-year-old Grace O’Malley-Kumar and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates. All three were stabbed by Valdo Calocane, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020. Counsel Rachel Langdale KC concluded that Webber’s death was “potentially preventable” because a faster administration of blood products could have increased his chance of surviving to intensive care. The panel estimated his chance of survival at “far less than 50 percent.” The deaths of O’Malley-Kumar and Coates were classified as “not preventable.”
Background & Context
Calocane had been detained under mental-health legislation four times and was subject to an outstanding arrest warrant for an alleged assault on a police officer at the time of the attacks. Nottinghamshire Police had interacted with him on ten or eleven occasions between 2020 and 2022, but later said it could not “manage dangerous paranoid schizophrenics.” The warrant remained unexecuted when the killings occurred.
Data & Statistics
- Victims: Barnaby Webber (19, Taunton), Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Ian Coates.
- Fatalities: 3.
- Medical assessment: < 50 % chance of survival for Webber; “potentially preventable.”
- Witnesses heard: 164 over more than three months of hearings.
- Police contacts with Calocane: 10-11 incidents (2020-2022).
Official Statements & Responses
Judge Deborah Taylor KC, chair of the inquiry, described the process as “disappointing” because key evidence was disclosed only after the main hearings and urged participants to submit corrections by 31 December.
Criticism & Opposition
Families of the victims condemned the police and prosecutorial handling of Calocane’s case. Tim Moloney KC, representing the bereaved families, called the lack of investigation into Calocane’s historical behaviour “cowardly and insulting,” noting a note that appeared to reference “Manchester Arena” and Calocane’s online searches for large Nottingham venues.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Nobody has ever asked [Calocane] why he was researching explosives and large venues, because they couldn’t,” — Maloney
- “We respectfully invite you to avoid the mindset that a mistake or an omission by an officer represents a missed opportunity to prevent this tragedy.” — John Beggs
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
Nottinghamshire Police maintained that the attacks were “not reasonably foreseeable or preventable” and that executing the warrant would not have averted the killings. The families and their counsel argued that the undisclosed explosives notes, Calocane’s violent history, and the failure to act on the warrant represented clear missed opportunities. The inquiry identified that police did not share Calocane’s notebooks—containing explosives lists and self-descriptions as “God”—with the Crown Prosecution Service or psychiatric experts until June 2023, a significant omission.
Timeline
- 13 June 2023 – Calocane stabs Webber, O’Malley-Kumar and Coates.
- 11 June 2023 – Calocane is evicted from his Burford Road address.
- 12 June 2023 – Calocane returns to Nottingham shortly before midnight.
- January 2024 – Calocane receives an indefinite hospital order after pleading guilty to manslaughter on diminished-responsibility grounds.
- February 2024 – The judge-led public inquiry begins.
- June 2026 – Closing submissions are heard; new evidence about explosives notes is disclosed.
- 31 December 2026 – Deadline for participants to submit corrections and omitted material.
What’s Next
The inquiry’s final report is slated for publication early next summer, with interim recommendations possible beforehand. The families have urged that any further investigations address the undisclosed evidence and the systemic failures identified by the panel.
