Families of Nottingham attack victims say new review shows killer should face murder retrial
The families of the victims of the Nottingham attacks have said the killer should face a retrial on a murder charge.
Findings from a new independent review published on Wednesday mean Valdo Calocane should be retried on the more serious charge, the families told Sarah-Jane Mee.
Valdo Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order after killing 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates, before attempting to kill three other people in June 2023.
Grace Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates
The report detailing his mental health treatment before his killing spree has found failings in his NHS care – including that he was allowed to avoid taking long-lasting antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles.
Prosecutors accepted a plea of manslaughter after experts agreed his schizophrenia meant he was not fully responsible for his actions.
But on Wednesday, the father of Grace, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, told The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee: “The basis of the trial was that Calocane had treatment resistant paranoid schizophrenia and that’s why he was convicted in the way he was.
“We have now got three agencies – the Care Quality Commission has said he did not have treatment resistant paranoid schizophrenia. The mental health trust has said emphatically he did not have treatment resistant paranoid schizophrenia. And now the trust report has confirmed he didn’t have treatment resistant paranoid schizophrenia.
“So if that was the basis of what the sentences were passed on, then if that basis is wrong, as families we can’t understand why that basis wouldn’t be challenged and even looked at by someone like [sentencing judge] Mr Justice Turner, who ultimately passed that sentence, because that sentence to us is not right.”
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Nottingham killer avoided medication
James Coates, the son of Ian Coates, said Calocane’s defence team portrayed him as an “upstanding citizen” in court.
He said he had been contacted by several people from Nottingham on social media “that are going through similar things that we are – they have a child in mental healthcare because of issues they are going through and they are refusing to take medication and they are refusing to get help”.
“If they then learn the same doctor that signed off my father’s killer into the streets is the one looking after their child, or friend, or partner – how are they supposed to deal with that?”
Emma Webber, Barnaby’s mother, said: “I have been engaging with a lady who messaged me to say… ‘Emma, my son’s going to be the next Valdo Calocane. Can you help?’
“This isn’t peculiar to just Nottingham, this is an entirely different part of the country.”
Asked if they would be willing to take on the challenge of seeking a murder retrial, Ms Webber said: “Yes, of course I am, because it is such a grievous wrong. Once the truth is fully uncovered, then we will cross that bridge. Absolutely, yes.”
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‘He got away with murder, didn’t he?’
Earlier, she told a news conference held by the families in London that the indefinite hospital order handed to Calocane represented an “enormous miscarriage of justice”
“He knew what he was doing,” she said. “He serves no punishment for his crimes.”
She said the evidence of failures in dealing with her son’s killer would have been “brushed under the carpet” had it not been for the campaigning by the victims’ families.
Talking about her son’s killer, she said: “He got away with murder, didn’t he? This has to be addressed. So enough is enough. It’s shameful we’ve had to fight so hard against the public agencies and institutions that should be there to protect us.”
She added: “Barnaby, Ian and Grace would be here today if those concerned across these agencies had just done their job properly.”
You can watch the full interview on The UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane Mee at 8pm
UK
Teenager living in ‘continuous pain’ after surgeon Dr Yaser Jabbar carried out ‘inappropriate’ operations
A 15-year-old boy who was operated on twice by a now unlicensed Great Ormond Street surgeon is living with “continuous” pain.
Finias Sandu has been told by an independent review the procedures he underwent on both his legs were “unacceptable” and “inappropriate” for his age.
The teenager from Essex was born with a condition that causes curved bones in his legs.
Aged seven, a reconstructive procedure was carried out on Finias’s left leg, lengthening the limb by 3.5cm.
A few years later, the same operation was carried out on his right leg which involved wearing an invasive and heavy metal frame for months.
He has now been told by independent experts these procedures should not have taken place and concerns have been raised over a lack of imaging being taken prior to the operations.
Yaser Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence last year. Pic: LinkedIn
His doctor at London’s prestigious Great Ormond Street Hospital was former consultant orthopaedic surgeon Yaser Jabbar. Sky News has spoken to others he treated.
Mr Jabbar also did not arrange for updated scans or for relevant X-rays to be conducted ahead of the procedures.
The surgeries have been found to have caused Finias “harm” and left him in constant pain.
“The pain is there every day, every day I’m continuously in pain,” he told Sky News.
“It’s not something really sharp, although it does get to a certain point where it hurts quite a lot, but it’s always there. It just doesn’t leave, it’s a companion to me, just always there.”
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Finias’s surgery pictures
Care of over 700 patients being assessed
Mr Jabbar rescinded his UK medical licence in January last year after working at Great Ormond Street between 2017 and 2022.
The care of his 700-plus patients is being assessed, with some facing corrective surgery, among them Finias.
“Trusting somebody is hard to do, knowing what they have done to me physically and emotionally, you know, it’s just too much to comprehend for me,” he said.
“It wasn’t something just physically, like my leg pain and everything else. It was emotionally, because I put my trust in that specific doctor. My parents and I don’t really understand the more scientific terms, we just went by what he said.”
Doctors refused to treat Finias because of his surgeries
Finias and his family relocated to their native Romania soon after the reconstructive frame was removed from his right leg in the summer of 2021.
The pain worsened and they sought advice from doctors in Romania, who refused to treat Finias because of the impact of his surgeries.
Dozens of families seeking legal claims
His mother Cornelia Sandu is “furious” and feels her trust in the hospital has been shattered. They are now among dozens of families seeking legal claims.
Cyrus Plaza from Hudgell Solicitors is representing the family. He said: “In cases where it has been identified that harm was caused, we want to see Great Ormond Street Hospital agreeing to pay interim payments of compensation for the children, so that if they need therapy or treatment now, they can access it.”
Finias is accessing therapy and mental health support as he prepares for corrective surgery later in the year.
A spokesperson for Great Ormond Street Hospital told Sky News: “We are deeply sorry to Finias and his family, and all the patients and families who have been impacted.
“We want every patient and family who comes to our hospital to feel safe and cared for. We will always discuss concerns families may have and, where they submit claims, we will work to ensure the legal process can be resolved as quickly as possible.”
Finias with his mother and sister
Service not ‘safe for patients’
Sky News has attempted to contact Mr Jabbar.
An external review into the wider orthopaedic department at the hospital began in September 2022.
It was commissioned after the Royal College of Surgeons warned the hospital’s lower limb reconstruction service was not “safe for patients or adequate to meet demand”.
The investigation is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
Sir Keir Starmer has said closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The government is set to host EU leaders in London on Monday as part of its efforts to “reset” relations post-Brexit.
A deal granting the UK access to a major EU defence fund could be on the table, according to reports – but disagreements over a youth mobility scheme and fishing rights could prove to be a stumbling block.
The prime minister has appeared to signal a youth mobility deal could be possible, telling The Times that while freedom of movement is a “red line”, youth mobility does not come under this.
His comment comes after Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, said on Friday work on a defence deal was progressing but “we’re not there yet”.
Sir Keir met European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen later that day while at a summit in Albania.
Ursula von der Leyen and Sir Keir had a brief meeting earlier this week. Pic: PA
If agreed, the deal will be the third in two weeks, following trade agreements with India and the US.
Sir Keir said: “First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising.
“More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forward, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union.”
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Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “worried” about what the PM might have negotiated.
Ms Badenoch – who has promised to rip up the deal with the EU if it breaches her red lines on Brexit – said: “Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.
“Instead, it sounds like we’re giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door. This isn’t a reset, it’s a surrender.”
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