Families of Nottingham victims call for Valdo Calocane’s doctors to be held ‘responsible’

The families of three people killed in Nottingham in 2023 have called for individual clinicians to be held “responsible” for their failure to adequately treat their convicted killer, Valdo Calocane.

Calocane killed Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19, and Ian Coates, 65, nine months after being discharged from mental health services due to “non-engagement”.

The families’ comments followed publication of a report that outlines the failings of the local trust to treat Calocane’s paranoid schizophrenia in the lead-up to the stabbings in June 2023.

The report reveals that Calocane was not forced to take antipsychotic drugs as he didn’t like needles and that care staff were advised not to visit his home on their own due to his history of violence and aggression.

On Wednesday, O’Malley-Kumar’s father Dr Sanjoy Kumar urged the health secretary to ensure individual clinicians are held to account.

“It’s individuals who make up systems, so if you don’t hold individuals responsible the system will never change,” he said.

O’Malley-Kumar’s mother Sinead, an NHS consultant, said mental health professionals should consider public safety when deciding on treatment.

"Accountability is incredibly important,” she said. “If any of those individuals thought Valdo Calocane was going to share student accommodation with their child, I suspect their choices may have been changed.”

The families also called for a statutory inquiry into the case.

The report found:

• The risk posed by Calocane “was not fully understood, managed, documented or communicated”
• The concerns of his family were not “effectively considered” during his treatment
• He was discharged without a face-to-face appointment due to “non engagement”
• In the nine months before the attack there was no contact between Calocane and mental health services

Regional medical director Dr Jessica Sokolov said: “It’s clear the system got it wrong. This is not acceptable, and I unreservedly apologise to the families of victims on behalf of the NHS and the organisations involved in delivering care to Valdo Calocane before this incident took place.”