POLICE today admitted they “should have done more” to arrest a Nottingham knifeman before he killed three in a rampage.
Valdo Calocane stabbed Grace O’Malley Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both aged 19, to death as they walked to their uni halls.
Valdo Calocane had a warrant out for his arrest at the time of the rampage
He also fatally knifed 65-year-old Ian Coates before stealing his van and ploughing into pedestrians.
Ahead of his sentencing today, Nottinghamshire Police admitted there were missed chances to stop Calocane.
Officers said there were a “number of occasions” between 2020 and 2022 where they had engaged with the triple killer.
It was also revealed a warrant had been put out for his arrest in September 2022 when he failed to appear in court for attacking a police officer.
This was still in place nine months later when Calocane went on his rampage last summer.
Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin admitted: “We should have done more to arrest him”.
The officer continued: “Because of the circumstance prevailing, at the time of the alleged assault, in my opinion it is highly unlikely that he would have received a custodial sentence.
“Of course, an arrest might have triggered a route back into mental health services, but as we have seen from his previous encounters with those services, it seems unlikely that he would have engaged in this process.”
Calocane came to the UK from Guinea-Bissau with his family in 2007 when he was aged 16.
He had been receiving treatment from mental health services since 2020, including being treated with anti-psychotic medication.
Calocane was sectioned at least four times before the attack but “actively concealed symptoms of psychosis”.
The killer also refused to take his medication and was admitted to hospital in 2020 after smashing down doors in his block of flats.
Calocane also assaulted a police officer during a search of his flat the following year.
It was this assault that led to the arrest warrant being issued after he failed to attend court.
ACC Griffin said: “The defendant was never arrested for that warrant which was still outstanding at the point of his arrest in June 2023.”
Calocane previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
He also admitted attempted murder, with all his pleas accepted by prosecutors – meaning he did not have to stand trial for murder.
The court told Calocane was suffering from “extreme” mental illness at the time of the attacks.
He began his rampage just after 4am on June 13 as Grace and Barnaby walked back to their halls from a night out.
The killer pounced after lurking in the shadows and began stabbing at Barnaby with a dagger.
As he collapsed to the ground, Grace showed “incredible bravery” by attempting to fight the killer off.
The missed chances to stop Calocane
Spring 2020 – Calocane allegedly followed a female student to her accommodation and threatened her. She was so terrified she jumped out a window to escape. The university is understood to have made attempts to seek mental health care for the killer.
July 2020 – He is said to have broken into a neighbour’s flat and threatened the occupants. He was detained in hospital under the Mental Health Act until the end of that month.
May 2021 – Calocane visits MI5 and asks them to stop “controlling him”. A photo is taken at their London headquarters of him.
September 2021 – Calocane is sectioned under the Mental Health Act but assaults a police officer on the way to hospital. He fails to attend court and a warrant is issued for his arrest.
November 2021 – He is detained under the Mental Act
January 2022 – Police were called after Calocane got housemate in headlock in row over dirty kitchen.
She managed to shove raging Calocane into the road but this caused him to turn his attention to her instead.
Tragically, he was “”as uncompromisingly brutal in his assault of Grace as he was in his assault of Barnaby” and she too fell to the ground.
Prosecutor Karim Khalil KC said footage captured the “devastating violence of the attacks” that was “mirrored only by the deliberate and merciless way the defendant acted”.
Calocane was then seen “calmly” walking away as he continued his gruesome spree when he came across Ian.
After stabbing the dad to death, Calocane stole his van and used it to ram three pedestrians – leaving Sharon Miller, Marcin Gawronski and Wayne Birkett injured.
The bloodbath was finally bought to an end when armed police swooped on a residential street to arrest him.
Calocane will be sentenced today.
Grace Kumar was among the three victims
She had attempted to save Barnaby from the killer’s fatal blows
Dad Ian Coates was also stabbed to death Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
