Nottingham attacker had a nine month outstanding arrest warrant before he killed three

Nottingham attacker had an active warrant for his arrest at the time of the killings after failing to appear in court in September 2022 for an unrelated incident.

Valdo Calocane had failed to appear in court after assaulting a police officer who’d taken him to hospital for mental health treatment, reports Nottinghamshire Live.

Officers were never able to track him down and Calocane would ultimately go on to commit the horrific attacks of June 13th 2023.

Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin told the Telegraph: “In August 2022, he [Calocane] was reported for summons and was due to attend court on September 2022. The defendant was never arrested for that warrant which was still outstanding at the point of his arrest in June 2023.”

Nottinghamshire Police has acknowledged that it could have done more to arrest the killer. In a statement released yesterday, Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin said: “The devastating impact that the events of June 13th have had and continued to have for the families of those killed and those that survived these dreadful attacks are immeasurable.

“I can confirm that Nottinghamshire Police previously engaged with the suspect, mostly while supporting our colleagues in the NHS on a number of occasions between 2020 and 2022. In September 2021, we were requested to support a Section 135 warrant to section the suspect under the Mental Health Act.

“We transported the suspect to Highbury Hospital and during this encounter, he assaulted one of our police officers. In August 2022, he was reported for summons and was due to attend court on 22 September 2022 for the assault on our officer.

“He failed to appear on that occasion and a warrant for his arrest was issued in September 2022. The defendant was never arrested for that warrant which was still outstanding at the point of his arrest in June 2023.”I have personally reviewed this matter and we should have done more to arrest him, 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.”

Calocane fatally stabbed University of Nottingham first year students Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber both 19 years old in the early hours of June 13th on Ilkeston Road. He also fatally stabbed 65-year-old caretake Ian Coates on Magdala Road later the same morning.

In a previous court hearing in November, Calocane pleaded not guilty to murder and guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. Nottingham Crown Court prosecution has, after consultation with the families of the victims, accepted the pleas based on Calocane’s past mental health issues.

He is due to be sentenced today.

Feature Image via Nottinghamshire Police 

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