Latest news with #ValdoCalocane
BBC News
28-05-2025
- Health
- BBC News
'Nottingham needs powerful voice in attacks inquiry'
Survivors of the Nottingham attacks have written to city MPs to create a "powerful voice on the national stage" amid the public inquiry, their solicitor has Calocane stabbed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, to death before striking three pedestrians with a van, seriously injuring them, on 13 June scope of the public inquiry, which will make recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future, was published by the government last week, marking its official Almond, from Rothera Bray Solicitors, is representing two of the three survivors and said the city needed a "co-ordinated approach" to the probe. Wayne Birkett and Sharon Miller, along with Marcin Gawronski, survived being struck by a van which Calocane stole from Mr Coates but were left with life-changing who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia before the attacks, was sentenced to a hospital order in January 2024 after admitting three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and three counts of attempted case has prompted a number of reviews, including a mental health homicide review commissioned by NHS this year the families of Mr Webber, Ms O'Malley-Kumar and Mr Coates, alongside Ms Miller and Mr Birkett, were invited to Downing Street to discuss the details on the by retired judge Her Honour Deborah Taylor, it will examine the management of Calocane's risk to others, the events on the day of the attacks and timeline of incidents of unauthorised accessing of information of public its terms of reference, Mr Almond said: "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 East Midlands mayor Claire Ward to ask for a meeting to create a "joined-up approach" and ensure recommendations from the inquiry are implemented."I think that's what Nottingham needs, so that there is a joined up approach from the various elected leaders," said Mr Almond said the public inquiry was "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."
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.
Telegraph
23-05-2025
- Health
- Telegraph
Nottingham killer's NHS trust criticised over further failings
Two patients who were treated at the same NHS trust as the Nottingham killer carried out stabbings weeks before his fatal attacks, it has emerged. Paranoid schizophrenics Josef Easom-Cooper and Junior Dietlin attacked six people weeks before Valdo Calocane 's knife rampage in which he killed three people in June 2023. All were under the care of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. Calocane killed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, before attempting to kill three other people in the city. The 33-year-old was given an indefinite hospital order last year after the murder charges were downgraded to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. The families of the victims have repeatedly raised concerns over the trust's alleged failure to treat 'known risk' Calocane appropriately. A report into Calocane's care found failings including him not being forced to have long-lasting anti-psychotic medication because he did not like needles. It has now emerged the trust was caring for patients who suffered with the same condition and carried out similar attacks prior to the deadly ones in Nottingham. In April 2023, Easom-Cooper stabbed a worshipper who was leaving an Easter Sunday service in Sneinton. He was sentenced to a hospital order in December 2023. His mother, Shelly Easom, told the BBC he was sectioned in 2022 for three months and was discharged despite her telling the trust that he 'was not OK when he was released'. Nine weeks earlier, Dietlin stabbed five 'complete strangers' before also being sentenced to a hospital order. The broadcaster said a report showed he had been involved with violent incidents with staff at Highbury Hospital in June 2022 and following his release, he took his medication 'very irregularly'. Reacting to the latest revelations of the mental health trust, Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby Webber, said the failings 'continue to concern but sadly not surprise us'. On behalf of the Nottingham families, she said: 'Unless we expose those who are failing individually then nothing will ever change. 'As has been proven, it was a woefully inadequate, failing service.' A public inquiry into the killings, Calocane's care up until that point and the aftermath was announced on Thursday. Ms Webber said this would provide the families an opportunity to find out more details than the 'half-baked investigations that have taken place so far'. 'What we find personally insulting is this continued 'unreserved apology and lessons will be learned' – they are not. They never have been,' she added. 'We completely stand united with anyone affected by any of these crimes, and in Barney, Grace and Ian's name, we will hold those to account who failed in any agency, and we will make sure that there is lasting change, not unreserved apologies and dusty reports on shelves.' Dr Susan Elcock, deputy chief executive and executive medical director at the trust, apologised 'for any aspect of our care which was not of the high standard our patients, their families and our communities deserve'.
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Attacks by NHS trust's patients ‘do not surprise us', say Nottingham families
The mother of a student killed in the Nottingham attacks has said the victims' families stand united with anyone affected by stabbings carried out by those under the care of a 'woefully inadequate' mental health trust. Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby Webber, said the failings of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust 'continue to concern but sadly not surprise us' following the news that two men with paranoid schizophrenia, treated by the trust, stabbed members of the public in separate incidents weeks before the attacks. Josef Easom-Cooper and Junior Dietlin attacked six men in the county in 2023. Dr Susan Elcock, deputy chief executive and executive medical director at the trust, apologised 'for any aspect of our care which was not of the high standard our patients, their families and our communities deserve'. Another of the trust's patients, Valdo Calocane, went on to kill students Barnaby and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, before attempting to kill three other people in the city in June 2023. A report into Calocane's care said he was not forced to have long-lasting anti-psychotic medication because he did not like needles. On behalf of the Nottingham families, Ms Webber told the PA news agency: 'Unless we expose those who are failing individually then nothing will ever change.' She said: 'The findings in the latest revelation about the Nottinghamshire mental health trust and its failings continue to concern but sadly not surprise us. 'As has been proven, it was a woefully inadequate, failing service. 'The statutory inquiry will provide our family with the opportunity to do the deeper dive and find out much more detail than any of the half-baked investigations that have taken place so far. 'What we find personally insulting is this continued 'unreserved apology and lessons will be learned' – they are not. They never have been. 'Unless we expose those who are failing individually then nothing will ever change. 'We completely stand united with anyone affected by any of these crimes, and in Barney, Grace and Ian's name, we will hold those to account who failed in any agency, and we will make sure that there is lasting change, not unreserved apologies and dusty reports on shelves.' In April 2023, Easom-Cooper stabbed a church-goer outside an Easter service and was sentenced to a hospital order in December of the same year. His mother, Shelly Easom, told the BBC he was sectioned in 2022 for three months and was discharged despite her telling the trust that he 'was not OK when he was released'. She told the broadcaster the attack could have been prevented if his condition had been taken more seriously. Dietlin stabbed five strangers in Nottingham and Mansfield nine weeks before the attack by Easom-Cooper and he also received a hospital order. Former police officer Keith Grafton, who was one of Dietlin's victims, told the BBC he was 'disappointed' his attacker had not received a prison sentence. The broadcaster said a report showed Dietlin had been involved with violent incidents with staff at Highbury Hospital in June 2022 and following his release, he took his medication 'very irregularly'. The BBC reported the day after his first attack on February 8 2023, he was visited by a staff member at the trust for a medication drop, but when community staff visited they found no signs of psychosis. Dietlin stabbed four more people between February 11 and 12. The trust said learning was identified in both cases – including capacity and risk assessment, liaison with police, medication drop-offs and follow-up and the role of families in working with patients who were harder to engage with. Dr Elcock said: 'Firstly, I apologise to those impacted by these incidents and for any aspect of our care which was not of the high standard our patients, their families and our communities deserve. 'Whilst we are unable to comment on individual cases due to patient confidentiality, I want to assure people that following any serious incident there is a robust review process which includes an initial management review to ensure any immediate learning and action takes place. 'This is then followed by a full investigation and a clear quality improvement plan detailing any learning and subsequent actions required. 'We have also implemented the new national patient safety incident response framework (PSIRF) which further strengthens this review and learning process. 'We know that it is really important for patients and families to be fully involved and I am confident our approach now ensures this happens, and that issues are addressed swiftly and transparently with patients involved in every aspect of their care. 'Above all, we remain fully committed to ensuring all our patients and their families receive the care they deserve, and our communities feel safe.'
Times
23-05-2025
- Health
- Times
NHS trust patients stabbed public before Valdo Calocane killings
Two patients under the care of the same NHS trust as the Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane stabbed members of the public weeks before his fatal attacks, it has emerged. Josef Easom-Cooper and Junior Dietlin, who have paranoid schizophrenia, stabbed six men in separate attacks in Nottinghamshire in 2023. Weeks later Calocane, who also has the condition, killed Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both university students, and Ian Coates, a caretaker, on June 13, 2023. In response to the revelations by the BBC, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which was previously criticised for its care of Calocane, has apologised to those 'affected for any aspects of our care that were not of the high standard our patients deserve'. Easom-Cooper stabbed a member of the congregationleaving an
