Nottingham attacks: Victims’ families tell vigil crowd to ‘hold no hate’

The mother of one of the Nottingham attack victims has paid tribute to her “beautiful boy” as thousands gathered for a city centre vigil.

Emma Webber said the killer was a “monstrous individual” but told the crowd: “He is just a person. Please hold no hate that relates to any colour, sex or religion.”

Holding a photo of Barnaby, and with his younger brother next to her, she added: “My beautiful, beautiful boy – you have mine, your dad and your brother’s heart forever.”

Families of victims speak at vigil – as it happened

The sons of school caretaker Ian Coates wore football shirts with “RIP Dad” on the back as they spoke publicly for the first time.

“It feels like he’s touched a lot of hearts over the years, more than what we assumed and knew that he had,” said James Coates.

“So it’s been really nice and heartwarming to see the messages, and people come out and talk about how he was when they were younger and how he’s helped them… some beautiful comments.”

Mr Coates described his father as “an avid fisherman who loved his family, and he also loved Nottingham Forest”.

He promised to support the other grieving families – “anything they need from us, we are here for them”, he said.

Grace O’Malley-Kumar’s mother also gave an emotional speech and said her 19-year-old “treasure” was beautiful on the inside as well as the outside.

“She wanted very few things in life, she wanted to be a doctor, she wanted to play hockey with her pals, she wanted to have fun,” said Dr Sinead O’Malley.

“All they were doing was walking home. They were just walking home after a night out,” she added. “This person must face justice. It is truly unfair.”

Grace’s younger brother, James, described her as like a “best friend” and urged the crowd to “cherish all the moments with your loved ones because you never know when it will end”.

Her father also spoke, fighting back tears at times as he said his family, like the Webbers, had suddenly “become three”.

“Imagine a world of just love and no violence. Just imagine that world,” he added.

Read more:
Caretaker ‘selfless’ and ‘brilliant bloke’
Timeline of how attacks unfolded

There was a minute’s silence in the city’s Old Market Square and – at the request of Barnaby’s mum – a moment of applause.

Tributes were also paid by the headteacher of Mr Coates’s school and the vice-chancellor of Nottingham University.

Meanwhile, police have been given another 36 hours to question the suspect in the attacks and have revealed he used to be a university student in the city.

Detectives are remaining open minded about the motive.

The 31-year-old suspect was tasered and arrested on suspicion of murder after Tuesday morning’s killings.

Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19, were found stabbed to death in Ilkeston Road at around 4am.

Ian Coates, 65, was also found dead from stab wounds in Magdala Road, with his van stolen and used to run people over in Nottingham city centre.

One person was left in a critical condition after that attack.

Video from the same morning also shows a man believed to be the suspect trying to climb into a window of a homeless shelter before being pushed out.