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.

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.”

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.”

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

Southport killer Axel Rudakubana’s anti-terror case should have been kept open, a review into his attacks has found.

Following the killings in Southport last summer, a rapid review was launched into Rudakubana’s contact with Prevent – a government strategy aimed at stopping people from becoming terrorists.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Home Office minister Dan Jarvis repeated that Rudakubana was in contact three times before his attacks at a Taylor Swift dance class where three young girls were murdered.

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He added that the report found Rudakubana should have been referred to Channel, another anti-terror scheme.

Mr Jarvis said: “The review concluded that too much focus was placed on the absence of a distinct ideology, to the detriment of considering the perpetrator’s susceptibility, grievances, and complex needs.

“There was an under-exploration of the significance of his repeat referrals and the cumulative risk, including his history of violence.

“There were potentially incomplete lines of inquiry, that at the time the perpetrator could have fallen into a mixed, unclear or unstable category for Channel due to his potential interest in mass violence.

“Indeed, the overall conclusion of the review is that he should have been case-managed through the Channel multi-agency process, rather than closed to Prevent.”

He said the review found Rudakubana’s referral to Prevent was “closed prematurely”, and there was “sufficient concern to keep the case active while further information was collected”.

The review noted Rudakubana was referred to Prevent on three occasions: first in December 2019 when he was 13, again in February 2021 when he was 14, and finally in April 2021.

The first report was due to concerns he was carrying a knife and searching for school shootings online.

The second was for online activity relating to Libya and Colonel Gaddafi, and the third for searching for London bombings, the IRA and the Israel-Palestine conflict.

“On each of these occasions, the decision at the time was that the perpetrator should not progress to the Channel multi-agency process,” Mr Jarvis said.

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The report highlighted that in the second referral, Rudakubana’s name was spelt differently from the first.

It then says a Prevent supervisor was unable to find the previous referral and “this may have caused the case to be closed quickly on minimal information”.

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As part of the review, 14 recommendations were made on how to improve Prevent, which Mr Jarvis said they had accepted and would be implementing.

Mr Jarvis said the government is working to set up an inquiry into what happened as soon as possible, although confirmed it would not initially be on a statutory footing.

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.

‘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.

‘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.”

‘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.”

‘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.”

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