Barney Webber’s family call for inquiry after feeling ‘wholly let down’ by justice system

The parents of University of Nottingham student Barnaby Webber, who was one of three victims fatally stabbed by Valdo Calocane last June, have called for a public inquiry into the “multi-agency failures” that led to their son’s death.

Barnaby’s family have said they were “disappointed” by the killer’s sentence to an indefinite hospital order, after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility and three counts of attempted murder, reports ITV.

Prosecution for Nottingham Crown Court accepted his plea on account of his history with mental health issues, including paranoid schizophrenia.

Alongside friend Grace O’Malley-Kumar, 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, Barnaby was fatally stabbed in the early hours of June 13th. He and Grace were found on Ilkeston Road, with police later finding Ian’s body on Magdala Road after his van being stolen.

Emma Webber, Barnaby’s mum, told ITV News: “We foolishly trusted in the criminal justice system. I never once thought we would have to have this type of conversation.

“I thought we’d talk about knife crime, lack of victim support, but we never thought we’d have to be on this stage.

“We feel wholly let down. We’re in shock and we’re disappointed.”

Calocane was known by local mental health services, having been sectioned four times and refusing medication. As well as this, there was a warrant for his arrest nine months prior to the June attacks after he assaulted a police officer in 2021 who was trying to detain him under the Mental Health Act at the time.

A review has been ordered by the health secretary into the local mental health services where Calocane was treated, which Barnaby’s father David said “is not enough.”

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“It’s been painted like it’s something for us but it’s not because it’s not going to make any difference to the outcome. Barnaby, Grace and Ian are not coming back.”

Featured image via Ioannis Alexopoulos/LNP/Shutterstock.

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