logo
City needs ‘powerful voice on national stage' after Nottingham attacks

City needs ‘powerful voice on national stage' after Nottingham attacks

Leader Live28-05-2025

Valdo Calocane killed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, before attempting to kill three other people in the city in June 2023.
The scope of the two-year public inquiry, which will make recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future, was published by the Government last week.
Greg Almond, from Nottingham-based Rothera Bray Solicitors, is representing two of the three survivors and said the terms of reference for the inquiry were 'very comprehensive'.
Sharon Miller and her partner Martin (Rothera Bray/PA)
Wayne Birkett and Sharon Miller, along with Marcin Gawronski, survived being struck by a van which Calocane stole from Mr Coates.
Mr Almond said of the terms of reference: 'They hopefully will ensure that we get the answers that we need, both for my clients and for the people of Nottingham.'
Mr Birkett and Ms Miller have written to Nottingham MPs and the East Midlands Mayor, Claire Ward, to ask for a meeting to create a 'joined-up approach' and ensure recommendations from the inquiry are implemented.
Mr Almond said: 'What we're concerned about, is that various different people are not coming together, and it's about a coordinated approach to this, so that we can speak with a powerful voice on the national stage.
'I think that's what Nottingham needs, so that there is a joined up approach from the various elected leaders. '
Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January last year after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder. Nottingham Crown Court heard he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
Mr Birkett suffered a head injury in the attack by Calocane, which put him in a coma and caused severe memory problems, headaches and dizziness, as well as fractures to his shoulder and legs.
He has no memory of the attack.
Ms Miller suffered significant orthopaedic and psychological injuries, now walks using a stick, and is cared for by her partner of 33 years.
Wayne Birkett and his partner Tracey (Rothera Bray/PA)
Mr Almond said of the impact of the attacks on the survivors: 'It's completely changed their lives.
'They were both very hard working people beforehand.
'They've not been able to return to work.
'The fact that this is in the news a lot, that the perpetrator's face is shown a lot, it's very difficult for them.'
Mr Almond said that the public inquiry is 'very important' to Mr Birkett and Ms Miller so they 'can move forward with their lives'.
He added: 'They want to draw a line under this terrible incident that's affected them completely unexpectedly, they were just on the way to work.
'They want to try and hopefully get back to work if they can, and try and live a normal life.'
In a statement, Ms Miller said: 'The inquiry will uncover the truth about all the missed opportunities to stop him (Calocane), and what needs to be done to prevent something as appalling as this from happening again.
'Not a day goes by where I don't think about what he did to Grace, Barnaby, and Ian.'

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Labour MPs push front bench for ‘crackdown' on ‘dodgy' vape and barber shops
Labour MPs push front bench for ‘crackdown' on ‘dodgy' vape and barber shops

North Wales Chronicle

timean hour ago

  • North Wales Chronicle

Labour MPs push front bench for ‘crackdown' on ‘dodgy' vape and barber shops

Melanie Onn said she 'really must press' the Government for long-term action to tackle these shops, which MPs heard had links to tax evasion and money laundering, and Joe Powell said well-known London streets such as Portobello Road and Notting Hill Gate are 'blighted'. Business and trade minister Gareth Thomas told MPs that the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) had visited almost 400 premises during a three-week operation in March, freezing several bank accounts. Mr Powell, the MP for Kensington and Bayswater, told the Commons: 'Small businesses across my constituency on our high streets from Earls Court Road to Queensway, Notting Hill Gate and Portobello Road are fed up of being blighted by candy shops, low-grade souvenir shops, Harry Potter shops and, yes, even barber shops, with accusations of VAT and business rates evasion, and even links to money laundering and serious organised crime.' He urged Mr Thomas to say 'what steps' the Government is taking 'to crack down on these operations and create a legitimate level playing field for our small businesses'. The minister replied: 'We've been working with colleagues in the Home Office and the National Crime Agency (NCA) to take action to crackdown on illegitimate businesses that threaten to undermine the legitimate ones that are on all of our high streets. 'In March, the NECC co-ordinated a three-week crackdown against barber shops and other cash-intensive businesses where there were concerns, visiting almost 400 premises, securing freezing orders over a series of bank accounts totalling more than £1 million.' In response, Ms Onn said: 'I really do need to press him because my constituents in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes are equally as fed up as (Mr Powell) of seeing high streets dominated by dodgy vape shops, unlicensed barbers.' She said 'some of them are legitimate' but asked: 'Is he working closely with the Home Office to try and tackle this blight because I think we probably need a national strategy, not a three-week operation?' Mr Thomas said he recognised 'a concern up and down the country' and added the NCA and Home Office 'are seeking to take action against illegitimate business'. He said a Government commitment to bolster police forces with 13,000 extra officers and special constables, backed by an uplift to forces' 'spending power' of 2.3% per year unveiled in Wednesday's spending review, 'will help'. In a viral video, Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick claimed 'weird Turkish barber shops' were 'chipping away at society', along with fare evasion, when he caught passengers allegedly 'bumping' London Underground ticket barriers on camera. 'The state needs to reassert itself and go after lawbreakers,' he said. Sadiq Khan is driving a proud city into the ground. Lawbreaking is out of control. He's not acting. So, I did.👇 — Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) May 29, 2025 Conservative MP Graham Stuart said that if a book which Labour MP for Central Ayrshire Alan Gemmell is writing were a 'political thriller about fighting for small business', then he was 'sure it features five heroes on the front bench opposite, doing everything they can to promote small business'. Ministers laughed and pointed at Tory MPs when Mr Stuart added: 'Readers will ask 'who is the villain of the piece?'' The Beverley and Holderness MP suggested the villain would be Rachel Reeves, 'the Chancellor of the Exchequer who is doing everything possible to undermine business – 276,000 people having lost work since the autumn statement'. He asked: 'When will the ministers, the heroes of this story, fight against the Chancellor who's getting so much so wrong?' Mr Thomas said: 'It's a little while since I've been called a hero by (Mr Stuart) but I'm glad that I've finally had some recognition from him in that regard. 'I don't think the Chancellor of the Exchequer is a villain at all. 'Indeed, I think the spending review that she announced yesterday will help to unlock investment in our high streets and in our small businesses up and down the country – the record investment in research and development, the record investment in infrastructure, and the additional capacity to the British Business Bank will help to unlock billions of pounds of new investment and many more job opportunities across the country.' Labour former minister Liam Byrne later called for 'a plan to cut industrial energy costs now'. The Commons Business and Trade Committee chairman said: 'As our committee pointed out on Friday, the success of the industrial strategy will depend on a plan to cut industrial energy costs now. 'When the industrial strategy is published, will the Secretary of State reassure us that there will be a plan to ensure that UK energy prices are internationally competitive?' Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds replied: 'The very significant increase in industrial energy prices under the terms of the last government are a significant issue for our competitiveness, and yes, that is something we're seeking to address.'

Second Italian journalist targeted with Paragon spyware, watchdog group says
Second Italian journalist targeted with Paragon spyware, watchdog group says

Reuters

time2 hours ago

  • Reuters

Second Italian journalist targeted with Paragon spyware, watchdog group says

LONDON, June 12 (Reuters) - A second Italian journalist was recently targeted by software made by U.S.-owned surveillance company Paragon, internet watchdog group Citizen Lab said, raising new questions about a surveillance scandal that has already led Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government and Paragon to part ways. Citizen Lab said in a report on Thursday that Italian investigative journalist Ciro Pellegrino's iPhone showed evidence of having been targeted by Paragon's sophisticated spy software. Pellegrino works at the online newspaper Fanpage, whose editor-in-chief Francesco Cancellato earlier disclosed that he was one of scores of users who received January alerts from WhatsApp that they had been targeted using Paragon's technology. Fanpage has published a stream of critical coverage of Meloni's government, notably an exposé tying her party's youth wing to neo-Nazi activity, and the allegation that Fanpage's journalists, among others, were put under surveillance has stirred controversy in Italy. On Monday, the government and Paragon announced that they were no longer working together, offering conflicting explanations about who fired whom. Paragon referred questions back to an earlier statement, opens new tab it provided to the Israeli publication Haaretz in which it said it had offered Italian officials a way to check whether its systems had been used against Cancellato, but that Italian authorities had rebuffed the offer. Italian officials did not return a message seeking comment on the Citizen Lab report. In a text exchange with Reuters, Pellegrino said the discovery that he had been targeted with spyware was "horrible." The Naples-based journalist said his phone was "the black box of my life, which contains everything from personal and health data to journalistic sources." Although an Italian parliamentary panel reported on Monday that the country's spy services had deployed Paragon's tools to intercept the communications of migrant sea rescue activists in the context of law enforcement work, the panel said it had found no evidence that the tools were used by Italian intelligence to go after Fanpage's Cancellato. The discovery of Paragon spyware on the phone of one of Cancellato's colleagues adds to questions about the panel's thoroughness, said Natalia Krapiva, a senior lawyer with Access Now, a human rights group that works with spyware victims. "It sheds serious doubt on the adequacy of the investigation," she said. The Italian parliamentary panel, which has reserved the right to conduct further investigations around the matter, did not respond to a message seeking comment. In its report, Citizen Lab also said that an unnamed European journalist was hacked with Paragon's spyware. The lab, which is based out of the University of Toronto, offered no other details and declined to answer questions about the journalist's identity or the circumstances of their targeting.

Labour MPs push front bench for ‘crackdown' on ‘dodgy' vape and barber shops
Labour MPs push front bench for ‘crackdown' on ‘dodgy' vape and barber shops

Leader Live

time2 hours ago

  • Leader Live

Labour MPs push front bench for ‘crackdown' on ‘dodgy' vape and barber shops

Melanie Onn said she 'really must press' the Government for long-term action to tackle these shops, which MPs heard had links to tax evasion and money laundering, and Joe Powell said well-known London streets such as Portobello Road and Notting Hill Gate are 'blighted'. Business and trade minister Gareth Thomas told MPs that the National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) had visited almost 400 premises during a three-week operation in March, freezing several bank accounts. Mr Powell, the MP for Kensington and Bayswater, told the Commons: 'Small businesses across my constituency on our high streets from Earls Court Road to Queensway, Notting Hill Gate and Portobello Road are fed up of being blighted by candy shops, low-grade souvenir shops, Harry Potter shops and, yes, even barber shops, with accusations of VAT and business rates evasion, and even links to money laundering and serious organised crime.' He urged Mr Thomas to say 'what steps' the Government is taking 'to crack down on these operations and create a legitimate level playing field for our small businesses'. The minister replied: 'We've been working with colleagues in the Home Office and the National Crime Agency (NCA) to take action to crackdown on illegitimate businesses that threaten to undermine the legitimate ones that are on all of our high streets. 'In March, the NECC co-ordinated a three-week crackdown against barber shops and other cash-intensive businesses where there were concerns, visiting almost 400 premises, securing freezing orders over a series of bank accounts totalling more than £1 million.' In response, Ms Onn said: 'I really do need to press him because my constituents in Great Grimsby and Cleethorpes are equally as fed up as (Mr Powell) of seeing high streets dominated by dodgy vape shops, unlicensed barbers.' She said 'some of them are legitimate' but asked: 'Is he working closely with the Home Office to try and tackle this blight because I think we probably need a national strategy, not a three-week operation?' Mr Thomas said he recognised 'a concern up and down the country' and added the NCA and Home Office 'are seeking to take action against illegitimate business'. He said a Government commitment to bolster police forces with 13,000 extra officers and special constables, backed by an uplift to forces' 'spending power' of 2.3% per year unveiled in Wednesday's spending review, 'will help'. In a viral video, Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick claimed 'weird Turkish barber shops' were 'chipping away at society', along with fare evasion, when he caught passengers allegedly 'bumping' London Underground ticket barriers on camera. 'The state needs to reassert itself and go after lawbreakers,' he said. Sadiq Khan is driving a proud city into the ground. Lawbreaking is out of control. He's not acting. So, I did.👇 — Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) May 29, 2025 Conservative MP Graham Stuart said that if a book which Labour MP for Central Ayrshire Alan Gemmell is writing were a 'political thriller about fighting for small business', then he was 'sure it features five heroes on the front bench opposite, doing everything they can to promote small business'. Ministers laughed and pointed at Tory MPs when Mr Stuart added: 'Readers will ask 'who is the villain of the piece?'' The Beverley and Holderness MP suggested the villain would be Rachel Reeves, 'the Chancellor of the Exchequer who is doing everything possible to undermine business – 276,000 people having lost work since the autumn statement'. He asked: 'When will the ministers, the heroes of this story, fight against the Chancellor who's getting so much so wrong?' Mr Thomas said: 'It's a little while since I've been called a hero by (Mr Stuart) but I'm glad that I've finally had some recognition from him in that regard. 'I don't think the Chancellor of the Exchequer is a villain at all. 'Indeed, I think the spending review that she announced yesterday will help to unlock investment in our high streets and in our small businesses up and down the country – the record investment in research and development, the record investment in infrastructure, and the additional capacity to the British Business Bank will help to unlock billions of pounds of new investment and many more job opportunities across the country.' Labour former minister Liam Byrne later called for 'a plan to cut industrial energy costs now'. The Commons Business and Trade Committee chairman said: 'As our committee pointed out on Friday, the success of the industrial strategy will depend on a plan to cut industrial energy costs now. 'When the industrial strategy is published, will the Secretary of State reassure us that there will be a plan to ensure that UK energy prices are internationally competitive?' Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds replied: 'The very significant increase in industrial energy prices under the terms of the last government are a significant issue for our competitiveness, and yes, that is something we're seeking to address.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store