Latest news with #NottinghamAttack
The Independent
2 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Nottingham attack families ask Streeting for names of staff who treated killer
The families of the Nottingham attack victims said they have told the Health Secretary they want the names of staff involved in treating killer Valdo Calocane to be made public. A February report into the care received by Calocane detailed how he was not forced to have long-lasting antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles, and how other patients at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust also went on to commit 'extremely serious' acts of violence. The relatives of 19-year-old students Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates, met with Wes Streeting on Monday and asked for those responsible to be held accountable. After the meeting, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, Grace's father, said: 'It was the actions of a few people that put a dangerous man out in the community'. Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, killed three people and attempted to kill three more in Nottingham in June 2023. He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder. Calocane was admitted to hospital and sectioned under the Mental Health Act four times between 2020 and 2022 because of his violent behaviour and refusal to take his medication, before NHS services lost track of him and discharged him in the months before the attacks. Three reports: including one by the Care Quality Commission (CQC); described failings in his care but none included practitioners' names, Dr Kumar said with copies of the documents in-hand. Speaking outside the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC), he told reporters: 'We'd like to know who was involved in the care of this person who committed all this harm. Why aren't there any names? 'He was sectioned four times – was it four different consultants? Was it one consultant? Who were the teams who didn't do their jobs?' He said: 'I think we deserve to know the detail – everyone in the country who has suffered the way we have through mental health-related homicide deserves to have the detail. 'When an operation goes wrong, someone gets named.' Dr Kumar added: 'We want people to just know, if they did wrong, what is it they need to do to be put right? Whether it's retraining, whether it's … doing the professional development again. 'The point is that you just can't have people who are providing a risky service even now.' He added that the Health Secretary was 'very much on our side, he very much wants to see a way through' and that Mr Streeting has promised 'he's going to work hard at it'. Prior to the meeting, the families said in a statement that their correspondence with the mental health trust's chief executive, Ifti Majid, had been 'light on detail, vague, evasive, defensive and contradictory'. They added that he failed to answer Dr Kumar's questions. Dr Kumar said he has given Mr Streeting the questions he put to the chief executive. He said the Health Secretary 'has promised to do his best to get us all the answers', adding that he has confidence in Mr Streeting because he has 'taken a personal interest in this case' and likewise 'wants to end homicide by mental health'. Their meeting also follows a complaint lodged with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) by the families regarding an 'offensive' encounter with one of the watchdog's regional directors. Dr Kumar told The Sunday Times newspaper that their meeting with the IOPC, nine months after the attacks, began with a prayer, which he found 'patronising'. The issue was not discussed with Mr Streeting on Monday and would require a different meeting, he told reporters. A DHSC spokesperson said: 'Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and NHS England have accepted all the recommendations made in both the CQC and NHS England-commissioned reviews into the care and treatment received by Valdo Calocane. 'The Health and Social Care Secretary has called for recommendations from both reviews to be implemented as soon as possible and met with the bereaved families today to discuss the NHS England-commissioned Independent Homicide Review. 'As part of this work, NHS England has developed and is actively implementing evidence-based national guidance, so that all trusts are clear on the standards of care expected for patients with serious mental illnesses. 'We remain committed to delivering the fundamental changes needed to mental health services to prevent similar tragedies from occurring in the future.'
Daily Mail
2 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.
The Independent
3 days ago
- Health
- The Independent
Nottingham attack families to meet Streeting after questions ‘stonewalled'
The families of the Nottingham attack victims are set to meet with the Health Secretary following claims that an NHS trust has 'stonewalled' their questions about staff who treated killer Valdo Calocane. A report into the care received by Calocane, released in February, detailed how he was not forced to have long-lasting antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles, and how other patients at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust also went on to commit 'extremely serious' acts of violence. The families of 19-year-old students Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates, said they will meet with Wes Streeting on Monday to discuss the mental health trust's failings. Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, killed his three victims and attempted to kill three others in Nottingham in June 2023. He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder. In a statement ahead of their meeting with Mr Streeting, the families said their correspondence with the mental health trust's chief executive Ifti Majid had been 'light on detail, vague, evasive, defensive and contradictory'. They said: 'Extensive failures of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust have been published in three reports. 'Questions about who failed to do their job have been stonewalled by the trust and NHS England. 'Ifti Majid, the trust's chief executive, has not answered questions posed by Grace's father Dr Sanjoy Kumar. 'The NHS reporting system is archaic and ineffective, as evidenced by the sheer number of reports gathering dust on the 'lessons never learnt' shelf.' NHS England previously indicated it would publish a summary of a report into Calocane's care due to data protection laws, but reversed the decision and published a full version after the Health Secretary said 'sunlight is the best disinfectant'. The families' statement continued: 'Other families in the country who have suffered tragedies have been provided only summary reports, which is just not good enough. 'Every family deserves the detail of failures that led to mental health homicide of their loved ones. 'Even recording of mental health-related homicide nationally is archaic, inaccurate and does not give a true and full picture of the problem. 'There is an utter lack of professional responsibility by senior management teams in the Nottinghamshire NHS Trust who continue to take no action against failing medical professionals even with previous serious blunders coming to light in months prior to the attacks. 'This is shameful, wrong and dangerous.' The statement added: 'The correspondence with Ifti Majid, the chief executive of the trust, has been shocking – light on detail, vague, evasive, defensive and contradictory. 'The trust must not be allowed to rely on an inquiry, which will take years, to do the right thing. 'This is lazy, dishonest, disrespectful and ultimately continues to put the public at risk.' Their meeting with Mr Streeting also follows a complaint lodged with the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) by the families regarding an 'offensive' encounter with one of the watchdog's regional directors. Grace's father, Dr Kumar, told the Sunday Times that their meeting with the IOPC nine months after the attacks began with a prayer, which he found 'patronising'. He told the newspaper: '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.' An IOPC spokesperson 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.'
Telegraph
26-05-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Nottingham victims' families call for manslaughter charges against NHS
The families of the Nottingham attack victims have called for corporate manslaughter charges to be brought against the NHS. Dr Sanjoy Kumar, the father of Grace O'Malley-Kumar, said staff had failed 'at every level' after it emerged the man who killed his daughter was sectioned four times and let go without an effective plan in place on each occasion. Valdo Calocane killed O'Malley-Kumar, 19, alongside fellow student Barnaby Webber, 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, before attempting to kill three other people in Nottingham in June 2023. Calocane, 34, was originally charged with murder, but this was downgraded to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility because of his paranoid schizophrenia. There have been two major reports into Calocane's treatment before the killings, but Dr Kumar told The Telegraph he rejected their findings. He said that while they highlighted errors and made recommendations, individuals had still not been held accountable. Dr Kumar said: 'They need to pay the price with legal action like corporate manslaughter.' He said the families of the victims would be travelling to London to meet Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, next month to ask him to hold individual medical staff accountable. Dr Kumar said the families had been failed by staff working at 'every level' within Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. 'It is clear they don't learn lessons,' he said. 'I will now endeavour to get all the staff and psychiatrists named who failed us. That is how we will stop this national epidemic of mental health-related homicide by holding individuals accountable. 'Calocane, the monster, was sectioned four times. Each time the lazy medics did nothing new in their management. They left this 30-year-old animal with 17 to 18-year-old students in the same halls of residence.' An independent review into Calocane's treatment history before the killings was published in full in February However, NHS officials had initially only planned to publish a summary of the 302-page report as they were concerned it contained his confidential medical details. It was only after the families raised concerns that NHS England made an about-turn and agreed to publish it in full. Dr Kumar said: 'If someone needed four hip replacements, their orthopaedic surgeon would be held accountable. So why, if someone is sectioned four times, are medics not held accountable? 'My mission is to end all mental health homicide in our country in the name of my brave and beautiful daughter. We must live in the safest country in Europe, our children in schools, on buses and colleges must be safe. All our relatives must be safe.' The investigation highlighted repeated failures to treat Calocane's paranoid schizophrenia and escalating violent outbursts. Doctors responsible for his care ignored repeated requests for Calocane to be given a community treatment order and long-acting antipsychotic drugs, despite pleas from nurses treating him in the community, who managed the risk to themselves by not visiting him alone. He was admitted to hospital and sectioned under the Mental Health Act four times between 2020 and 2022 because of his violent behaviour and refusal to take his medication. Mental health services eventually lost track of him and discharged him to a GP in the months before the attacks. Violent psychosis The investigation found Calocane's care team accepted he did not want to take a long-lasting antipsychotic drug for reasons including 'him not liking needles'. The authors also echoed concerns from a report published six months before by the Care Quality Commission, which identified five missed opportunities to deal with Calocane's violent psychosis. It found Calocane regularly failed to take his schizophrenia medication and there was a 'theme running through his clinical records' that he did not believe he was ill. Last week, the terms of reference for the public inquiry, which will begin hearing evidence later this year, were published for the first time. It will examine the role of prosecutors, police and medical staff in the years leading up to the killings, and their response in the aftermath. Nottinghamshire Police has previously admitted it should have done more to arrest Calocane sooner. A warrant for his arrest in relation to an assault on an emergency worker had been outstanding for nine months before the killings. The inquiry will also look at the police decision not to take toxicology samples from Calocane following the attack.
Yahoo
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former judge Her Honour Deborah Taylor will head public inquiry into Nottingham attacks
A former judge has been appointed to chair a public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks two years ago. Her Honour Deborah Taylor, a former circuit court judge who retired in 2022, was appointed by Lord Chancellor Shabana Mahmood on Tuesday to "undertake a thorough, independent assessment of the events that culminated in these brutal attacks". She will provide recommendations to prevent similar incidents and will have the power to examine all agencies involved, including the Crown Prosecution Service and Nottinghamshire Police. Students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates were killed by Valdo Calocane in June 2023. He then attempted to kill three other people in a spate of attacks in Nottingham. Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January last year after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder. Prosecutors accepted a plea of manslaughter after experts agreed his schizophrenia meant he was not fully responsible for his actions. The families said recently he had "got away with murder". In a statement, the Lord Chancellor said: "The bereaved families and survivors of the Nottingham Attack, who have suffered so much, deserve to know how these horrific attacks were able to happen. "I am pleased to appoint Her Honour Deborah Taylor as the Chair of this inquiry. "She brings deep experience to the role, and I know she will undertake a fearless and thorough examination of the facts." Read more: In February, Sir Keir Starmer told the families of Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar, and Ian Coates that a judge-led public inquiry would start in "a matter of weeks". It comes after the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) also announced it would reopen a probe into Leicestershire Police after allegations of assault by Calocane on two co-workers in May 2023.
