‘He got away with murder’: Families of Nottingham attack victims react to review into killer
The families of the Nottingham victims have said the attacker “got away with murder” after an independent review found failings involved in his prior NHS care.
Valdo Calocane was allowed to avoid taking long-lasting antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles, the review found.
He also punched a police officer in the face and held his flatmates “hostage”.
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.
Prosecutors accepted a plea of manslaughter after experts agreed his schizophrenia meant he wasn’t fully responsible for his actions.
Solicitor Neil Hudgell, acting on behalf of the families of the victims, said they will meet the government next week to discuss a statutory public inquiry.
Emma Webber said the families have had to fight for lessons to be learned
‘Make this trauma stop’
Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby, said at a press conference held by the families, that evidence of failures in dealing with her son’s killer would have been “brushed under the carpet” had it not been for campaigning by the victims’ families and that Calcone “got away with murder”.
“None of us should be here today. Anything and everything that could go wrong did,” she said.
“Barnaby, Ian and Grace would be here today if those concerned across these agencies had just done their job properly.”
Mrs Webber said 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 added it was “unfathomable” that the families have had to fight for lessons to be learned: “To the prime minister, and the rest of the government, make this trauma stop and make our fight stop.
“You have confirmed there will be a public inquiry, but agree the terms that we’ve been pleading for, make it statutory so all of the agencies, organisations, institutions and, vitally, individuals must… and will be compelled to attend, give evidence and tell the truth.”
Mrs Webber wants a meeting with Keir Starmer: “I do think it’s time now that we get the opportunity to meet with the prime minister,” she said.
Dr Sanjoy Kumar said the families are calling for a statutory public inquiry. Pic: PA
‘This is a watershed moment’
The father of Grace, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, said he will be asking the health secretary to order a mental health trust to hold individual doctors responsible for the failures in his daughter’s killer’s care.
Dr Kumar added: “He (Calocane) was sectioned four times. Four times. The psychiatrist failed to change his treatment four times.
“They failed to put provisions in the community to make sure he took his medication, ultimately irresponsibly discharging him into the community to do harm.
“For the loss of our beautiful, brave daughter, Grace, there must be change. This is a watershed moment.
“We demand a public inquiry with statutory powers, powers to compel witnesses to appear to account for their failures.
“We demand accountability and we will not stop until we get justice for the Nottingham attacks.
“A system is made out of individuals – if individuals are not held to account, systems will not change in our country.”
Pic: PA
‘Accountability is essential’
Grace’s mother, Dr Sinead O’Malley-Kumar, said there had been poor decision-making and “laziness” among health staff who treated her daughter’s killer.
“If any of them knew that Valdo Calocane was going to go out and share student accommodation with their children, I suspect their choices may have changed,” she said.
“Accountability on an individual level is essential.”
James Coates said Nottingham is not a safe area. Pic: PA
‘The city is a failure’
James Coates, the son of Ian Coates, claimed the people of Nottingham are not safe and he had lost his faith in the local mental health services.
He said: “I want to be proud but I can’t. The city, as a whole, is a failure.”
Talking about the city’s NHS services, he said: “If they take shortcuts, it puts people’s lives at risk.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.
Please refresh the page for the fullest version.
You can receive breaking news alerts on a smartphone or tablet via the Sky News app. You can also follow us on WhatsApp and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep up with the latest news.
The family of a father shot dead in a suspected case of mistaken identity in north London have said he “deserves justice” as they appealed for information.
Mahad Abdi Mohamed, 27, died from a gunshot wound to the head in hospital after he was hit with bullets fired from a stolen Mitsubishi Outlander, which was later found burnt out.
Detectives believe those responsible for his murder had set out to hurt someone else in a “pre-meditated and targeted attack” in Waverley Road, Tottenham, at 8.45pm on Thursday 20 March.
Mr Abdi Mohamed’s younger sister, Amal Abdi Mohamed, 23, said he was a “loving father” to his five-year-old son, who “looked up to him like a superhero”, and was planning to get married in the summer.
Mahad Abdi Mohamed with his sister, Amal Abdi Mohamed. Pic: Met Police
“He was taken away from us through gun violence,” she said.
“A bullet didn’t just take his life, it tore through our family, through our heart, and it’s truly shocking, it’s devastating, and it’s so senseless, because this type of violence should never be normal.
“It should never be something a family ever has to expect, prepare for, or live with.”
Mr Abdi’s 26-year-old friend, with whom he had been breaking his Ramadan fast, was also shot in the leg and was treated in hospital for a wound police said was not life-changing.
The Metropolitan Police arrested four men on suspicion of murder, who have been released on bail pending further investigations.
Detectives are appealing for witnesses who saw a silver Mitsubishi Outlander in the area, which was found burnt out in Runcorn Close, the following morning.
A Mitsubishi was found burnt out the following day. Pic: Met Police
“This tragic event and Mahad’s death, has had a profound impact on the community and all those who loved him. Someone out there knows what happened. And that person, or people, must come forward,” said Detective Chief Inspector Rebecca Woodsford.
“Regardless of how small you think your information is, please share it with us. It could be the missing link we need to secure justice for Mahad and his family.”
Read more from Sky News:
Government whip quits over Starmer’s welfare cuts
Patrols to protect women and girls from violence at concerts
Compensation scheme for Capture victims announced
‘To stay silent is to be complicit’
Many of Mr Abdi Mohamed’s family members were in tears as they visited the scene of his murder as part of the appeal for information.
“My sweet Mahad was the kind of person who could light up a room without even trying,” said his sister.
“His laugh was so loud, and it still echoes in our memories.”
Ms Abdi Mohamed said her brother “was funny, he was honest, and overall he was just a good man” but “wasn’t perfect”.
She said he had “made mistakes but turned his life around” working at Waterloo Station, and part-time at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Royal Ascot as a security guard.
Mr Abdi Mohamed with his mother, Zahra Ali Seef. Pic: Met Police
“How do you look at a child who adored him day and night, and tell them that he’s gone and you don’t have the answers why? That boy will have to grow up with no dad,” she said.
“If you think you may know anything or have seen anything – you may think it doesn’t matter, but it might be the key to giving us an answer, and it might be the thing that finally lets our family take a breath.
“To stay silent is to be complicit.
“To stay silent is to let a grieving mother suffer in confusion. To stay silent is to let a little boy grow up not knowing what happened to his father.
“If you know something and you haven’t come forward, please think about that. Think about a family that cannot begin to heal because the truth is still hiding in the shadows. My brother deserves better. He deserves justice.”
UK
Post Office Capture scandal: Sir Alan Bates calls for those responsible for wrongful convictions to be ‘brought to account’
Sir Alan Bates has called for those responsible for the wrongful convictions of sub postmasters in the Capture IT scandal to be “brought to account”.
It comes after Sky News unearthed a report showing Post Office lawyers knew of faults in the software nearly three decades ago.
The documents, found in a garage by a retired computer expert, describe the Capture system as “an accident waiting to happen”.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Post Office: The lost ‘Capture’ files
Sir Alan said the Sky News investigation showed “yet another failure of government oversight; another failure of the Post Office board to ensure [the] Post Office recruited senior people competent of bringing in IT systems” and management that was “out of touch with what was going on within its organisation”.
The unearthed Capture report was commissioned by the defence team for sub postmistress Patricia Owen and served on the Post Office in 1998 at her trial.
It described the software as “quite capable of producing absurd gibberish” and concluded “reasonable doubt” existed as to “whether any criminal offence” had taken place.
Ms Owen was found guilty of stealing from her branch and given a suspended prison sentence.
She died in 2003 and her family had always believed the computer expert, who was due to give evidence on the report, “never turned up”.
Patricia Owen (right) was convicted in 1998 of stealing from her post office branch. She died in 2003
Adrian Montagu reached out after seeing a Sky News report earlier this year and said he was actually stood down by the defending barrister with “no reason given”.
The barrister said he had no recollection of the case.
Victims and their lawyers hope the newly found “damning” expert report, which may never have been seen by a jury, could help overturn Capture convictions.
Read more: Post Office scandal redress must not only be fair – it must be fast
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
What is the Capture scandal?
‘These people have to be brought to account’
Sir Alan, the leading campaigner for victims of the Horizon Post Office scandal, said while “no programme is bug free, why [was the] Post Office allowed to transfer the financial risk from these bugs on to a third party ie the sub postmaster, and why did its lawyers continue with prosecutions seemingly knowing of these system bugs?”
He continued: “Whether it was incompetence or corporate malice, these people have to be brought to account for their actions, be it for Capture or Horizon.”
More than 100 victims have come forward
More than 100 victims, including those who were not convicted but who were affected by the faulty software, have so far come forward.
Capture was used in 2,500 branches between 1992 and 1999, just before Horizon was introduced – which saw hundreds wrongfully convicted.
The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the body responsible for investigating potential miscarriages of justice, is currently looking at a number of Capture convictions.
A CCRC spokesperson told Sky News: “We have received applications regarding 29 convictions which pre-date Horizon.
25 of these applications are being actively investigated by case review managers, and two more recent applications are in the preparatory stage and will be assigned to case review managers before the end of June.
“We have issued notices under s.17 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1995 to Post Office Ltd requiring them to produce all material relating to the applications received.
“To date, POL have provided some material in relation to 17 of the cases and confirmed that they hold no material in relation to another 5. The CCRC is awaiting a response from POL in relation to 6 cases.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade said: “Postmasters negatively affected by Capture endured immeasurable suffering. We continue to listen to those who have been sharing their stories on the Capture system, and have taken their thoughts on board when designing the Capture Redress Scheme.”
Sir Keir Starmer could end up allowing Donald Trump to use British bases to launch strikes on Iran, Harriet Harman has said.
Speaking to Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Baroness Harman said this was despite the prime minister being part of a generation “shaped” by opposition to the Iraq War.
👉Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app👈
Baroness Harman was solicitor general when Sir Tony Blair decided to take Britain to war in Iraq alongside the United States in 2003.
She said the decisions made by Sir Tony would be “burning bright” in Sir Keir‘s mind.
Tony Blair’s decision to go to war in Iraq will be ‘burning bright’ in the PM’s mind, Baroness Harman said. Pic: PA
“He’s part of the political generation of the Labour Party that grew up, which was shaped by its opposition to what Tony Blair was doing in relation to Iraq,” Baroness Harman said.
“So it would be a massive change for him.”
Asked if the UK could end up giving permission for US aircraft to use British military bases on Cyprus and Diego Garcia, but not go any further than that, Baroness Harman said: “Exactly”.
Soldiers guard the security gate of RAF Akrotiri, a British military base in Cyprus. File pic: Reuters
Read more:
‘Questions’ on legality of Israel’s actions in Iran
Donald Trump ‘may or may not’ strike Iran
Sky News reported on Thursday that Attorney General Richard Hermer has raised questions over whether Israel’s actions in Iran are lawful, potentially limiting what support he believes the UK could offer the US.
Baroness Harman said that for Sir Keir, the “rules-based international order is the most important thing”.
“If the attorney general says that the government can’t do something because it’s illegal, it can’t do it. So he’s in a very crucial position,” she added.
Harriet Harman (R) with Beth Rigby
But Baroness Harman said it would be difficult for Sir Keir to say “thank you for the trade deal” to Mr Trump and then deny the president use of the airbases.
👉Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app👈
Remember, you can also watch us on YouTube!
-
Sports3 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
-
Sports2 years 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
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike