Latest news with #DerrickCampbell
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Daily Mail
Father of Nottingham attack victim complains after 'offensive' meeting with police watchdog which was started with a prayer
The father of a Nottingham attack victim has complained about a police watchdog boss who began a meeting with grieving families with a prayer. Dr Sanjoy Kumar, whose daughter Grace was one of three people killed by paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane during a rampage in June 2023, described the meeting as 'patronising and offensive.' A two-year inquiry into the killings of students Ms O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, will scrutinise the role of prosecutors, police and medical professionals. And it has now emerged that Dr Kumar believes a regional director of the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) behaved inappropriately when he met with the bereaved families nine months after the attack and started the meeting with a prayer. 'I found it patronising and offensive,' he told the Times. 'I didn't want a prayer, I wanted answers. I've lost my daughter and it was his job to give me the truth, not a prayer. 'There are plenty of places to pray and the IOPC isn't one of them.' The regional director is understood to be Derrick Campbell, the watchdog's director of engagement. A spokesman said: 'We can confirm we've received a complaint about one of our directors and we are dealing with it in line with our complaints and feedback procedure.' The IOPC had previously issued a report which concluded that police failed to properly investigate an assault on warehouse workers by Calocane a month before his killing spree. In a statement at the time, Mr Campbell said: 'Those who are closely impacted by our decision, including the bereaved families and the officers involved, have been notified and we will complete this work as quickly as possible.' Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder. The prosecution decision not to pursue murder charges has been widely criticised by the victims' families. Barnaby's mother Emma Webber said in February last year that relatives had a lot of concerns 'that were in the most part wholly ignored' by the Crown Prosecution Service. Senior retired judge Deborah Taylor will chair the inquiry, which aims to report back within two years, with recommendations to prevent similar incidents.
Times
4 days ago
- Times
Nottingham victims' parents brand watchdog director ‘offensive'
A senior official at the police watchdog is facing a complaint after bereaved families claimed he conducted a prayer for their loved ones before a meeting about the failings that led to their deaths. The families of students killed by a paranoid schizophrenic in Nottingham said they found Derrick Campbell's behaviour inappropriate, patronising and offensive. Dr Sanjoy Kumar, whose daughter Grace O'Malley-Kumar was one of three people killed in June 2023, said: 'I didn't want prayers from the IOPC. I wanted answers.' Campbell, a pastor at a church in Wolverhampton, was the Independent Office for Police Conduct's regional director overseeing multiple investigations into police failings in the case of Valdo Calocane, who fatally stabbed O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19, and Ian Coates, 65. Bereaved families have been highly critical of the watchdog's approach. After concerns about a lack of rigour, the IOPC was forced to reopen its inquiry into officers who failed to arrest Calocane a month before the attack. In March 2024, nine months after the killings, families met with Campbell for an update on four investigations into police conduct. Kumar said Campbell began the meeting with a prayer that reflected on their loss. 'I found it patronising and offensive,' Kumar said. 'I didn't want a prayer, I wanted answers. I've lost my daughter and it was his job to give me the truth, not a prayer. There are plenty of places to pray and the IOPC isn't one of them.' Emma Webber, Barnaby Webber's mother, said Campbell gave a generic prayer. She accused him of failing to give families full details about the IOPC's investigations. She was offended when, while discussing the officers who failed to arrest Calocane, Campbell said they were not to know he would go on to commit heinous acts. Campbell's register of interests at the IOPC shows he is a non-executive director at Zion City Tabernacle, a church where he is also a pastor. He now has a new role as the IOPC's director of engagement, after regional directors were removed following an organisational restructure. The IOPC said: 'We can confirm we've received a complaint about one of our directors and we are dealing with it in line with our complaints and feedback procedure.' The complaint is at the assessment stage. The IOPC has not yet launched an investigation — the step at which it acknowledges there are grounds for concern. Families have accused the IOPC of having a closed mindset over its investigation into the conduct of police investigating Calocane's assault on fellow factory workers on May 5, 2023, a month before his attack in Nottingham. The watchdog found 11 failings to properly investigate Calocane, who had a history of violence and had been sectioned four times. • Nottingham attack survivor: I wish Valdo Calocane had killed me instead It initially recommended the officers be charged with misconduct, meaning they would not face dismissal and would probably receive the sanction of a warning. The IOPC took the rare step of reopening its inquiry after The Times revealed IOPC investigators had not scrutinised discrepancies in officer accounts. The relatives of the victims had also raised concerns about 'significant errors and vital omissions' in the inquiry. Families are set to meet Wes Streeting, the health secretary, on Monday and raise concerns about transparency in the case. Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, where Calocane was treated, has declined to answer further specific questions about his care, citing the government's decision to call a public inquiry. Hearings will not begin until next year. An independent review revealed in February that Calocane was discharged from mental health services without any follow-ups or risk assessment even though staff knew he posed a danger. He had been allowed to skip medication that would have stopped his delusions because he did not like needles. The NHS is yet to confirm how many doctors were involved in Calocane's care and whether the same staff were responsible for repeated mistakes. The trust has also refused to confirm whether any staff have been given fresh training in light of the case or have been referred for regulatory action.
