A mother whose teenage son was killed in last year’s Nottingham attacks has welcomed a “long overdue” review of murder sentencing in the UK, calling it a “pivotal moment”.
Paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane fatally stabbed Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both aged 19, and 65-year-old Ian Coates on the streets of the city in June 2023.
Calocane, 33, was originally charged with murder but admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility, and was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order.
Valdo Calocane. Pic: PA
Mr Webber’s mother Emma Webber told Sky News presenter Jonathan Samuels it was a “huge miscarriage of justice” as she called Calocane a “murderer” and she would “never accept” that manslaughter was the appropriate charge for his “heinous, evil, monstrous crimes”.
On Friday, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced an upcoming study by the Law Commission, saying the way homicide is dealt with had not been reviewed since the early 2000s.
Ms Mahmood said that in the wake of Calocane’s attacks, there have been calls for a change in how “diminished responsibility should be reflected in the classification of homicide offences”.
Politics latest: Starmer meets devolved nation and Irish leaders
(L-R) Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber, and Grace O’Malley-Kumar
All three victims’ families believed they had suffered “a huge miscarriage of justice”, Ms Webber said, adding they “will never accept manslaughter and the use of the system to enable that to fit”.
The law, she said, was stuck between an “arbitrary black and white, you’re either a cold-blooded murderer or, it’s manslaughter and that could be accidental”.
Calocane, she said, “planned what he was doing”, and “chose not to take [his] medication”.
The contradictions, she said, “show how archaic and flawed our criminal justice system is”.
“We ended up in this, the most painful of situations following the most catastrophic tragedy that could ever befall any family.”
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Pic: PA
More on Nottingham attacks:
Timeline of missed opportunities
Killer’s ‘unduly lenient’ sentence referred to Court of Appeal
Announcing the review, Ms Mahmood said the commission “will review the law relating to homicide offences, including full and partial defences to those offences, and this time also the sentencing framework for murder”.
There had also, she said, been concerns about “gendered disparities for murders committed in a domestic context”, including “the inadequate reflection of prior abuse in minimum terms for abusive men who kill their female victims, and disproportionately long tariffs for women who kill their male abusers”.
Tougher sentences for strangulation
The justice secretary said that alongside the review, she would also bring forward legislation to implement two new statutory aggravating factors for murder sentencing.
This will mean judges will have to consider tougher jail terms for murders involving strangulation or when the killing is connected to the end of a relationship.
A consultation into murder sentencing was first announced by Rishi Sunak’s government last year, as part of its strategy to tackle violence against women and girls.
Ms Mahmood said nearly a third of the murder cases analysed by Clare Wade KC, who is carrying out a review into domestic homicide, involved strangulation.
Read more:
Starmer can’t rule out further tax rises
Elon Musk ‘trying to buy’ Reform UK
Badenoch scathing over Starmer joke
She said that in over a third of cases, the murder occurred at the end, or perceived end, of the relationship, and that this appeared to be the catalyst for the killing.
Ms Mahmood added: “We anticipate that the Law Commission review will take several years to complete, and the government will then need to consider the recommendations and bring forward any necessary legislation.
“This is the right course of action for such a complex area of law, but it is not a quick one.”
UK
‘Major incident’ declared in Northern Ireland as wildfire breaks out amid higher-than-normal temperatures
A major incident has been declared in Northern Ireland after a wildfire broke out, the latest in a series of blazes seen across the UK over the past week amid soaring temperatures.
More than 100 firefighters and 14 fire appliances were at the scene of the “significant” wildfire on Sandbank Road, Hilltown, Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service said.
The fire had a front of approximately two miles “including a large area of forestry close to property”, the service said.
The wildfire on Sandbank Road, Hilltown. Pic: Sky Watch NI
“Local residents are requested to avoid the area, a number of roads have been closed, to help support firefighting operations,” the fire service added.
“We ask that all members of the public remain particularly vigilant to the risk of fire at this time. We can reassure members of the public that normal service delivery is being maintained.”
More than 100 firefighters were at the scene of the fire. Pic: Sky Watch NI
Various fires erupted across England this week amid uncharacteristically warm and dry conditions for the time of year.
On Saturday, helicopters were deployed to tackle Scotland’s fourth wildfire this week, with police saying a blaze “which started in the Newton Stewart area has spread northwards and is expected to reach the Loch Doon area of East Ayrshire around 12am on Sunday”.
Police Scotland added: “As a precautionary measure members of the public are asked to avoid the Loch Doon area and anyone who may be camping in the area is advised to leave.”
Moors Valley Country Park blackened by fires this week
Elsewhere in England, Devon and Cornwall Police said they were assisting the fire service with temporary road closures on the A30 in the Bolventor area as they tackle “a number of fires” on moorland.
In Dorset, Moors Valley Country Park was forced to close after multiple wildfires broke out there on Wednesday.
Read more from Sky News:
Zelenskyy makes dig at US over its response to Russian attack
What hopes are there for the future of Prince Harry’s charity?
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Wildfires spread across nature reserve
Separate incidents were then reported at Upton Heath in Poole on Wednesday, and nearby Canford Heath in the early hours of Thursday.
Friday was officially the warmest day of the year so far – with temperatures in the south of England reaching 23C (73.4F) – the highest since 21 September last year, according to the Met Office.
The weather conditions triggered a “severe” wildfire rating for parts of the UK on Tuesday.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway