The sentence of the Nottingham attacker who stabbed two students and a caretaker to death will be referred to the Court of Appeal after the attorney general found it to be “unduly lenient”.
Valdo Calocane was sentenced to be detained at a high security hospital order for fatally stabbing Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and Ian Coates, 65, in June 2023.
The victims’ families criticised the sentence, as well as authorities they save could have helped prevent the tragedy.
Calocane, who also tried to kill three others with a van, was handed the sentence after prosecutors accepted his manslaughter plea rather than pursuing a murder conviction.
The deal was done as experts agreed he had paranoid schizophrenia so wasn’t fully responsible for his actions.
The victims’ families had met with Attorney General Victoria Prentis and Solicitor General Robert Courts before they reached their decision to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal.
The families said in a statement after the decision: “We were very glad to hear that the attorney general has agreed with us that the sentencing given to Valdo Calocane, who so viciously and calculatedly killed our loved ones was wrong.
“We are optimistic that when this reaches the Royal Courts of Justice for its appeal there will be an outcome that provides some of the appropriate justice that we have been calling for.
“It is important to remember that this is just one part of the tragic failures in this case. The investigation into the mental health trust, the CPS and the Nottingham and Leicestershire Police still continue.
“We maintain that there are serious failures in all three agencies that must be fully addressed.”
The families added that they are calling for “organisational and individual accountability” and “where relevant, proper change made”.
Mr Justice Turner, who sentenced Calocane last month, said the 32-year-old would “very probably” be detained in a high-security hospital for the rest of his life.
The families of the three people who were killed were united outside court as they accused the Crown Prosecution Service, police and the NHS of multiple failures.
They said prosecutors had already made up their minds when they informed them they would accept Calocane’s manslaughter plea.
“At no point during the previous five-and-a-half-months were we given any indication that this could conclude in anything other than murder,” said Mr Webber’s mum Emma.
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