Nottinghamshire Police admit Nottingham attacks killer should have been arrested sooner

ACC Rob Griffin was responding to stinging criticism of the police by the victims’ families after Calocane, aged 32, was sentenced to be detained in a high-security hospital at Nottingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility.

Psychatric reports heard at the trial conclued that Calocane was a paranoid schizophrenic and mentally ill and that he would not have stabbed and killed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar and school caretaker Ian Coates if he had not been ill.

But the families of the three victims were scathing in their criticism of the police and the justice system for not treating Calocane’s crimes as murder.

Speaking outside the court after the sentencing, Mr Coates’ son James said Calocane had ‘got away with murder’, while Emma Webber, Barnaby’s mother, accused the police of ‘not doing their jobs properly’ and said ACC Griffin ‘had blood on his hands’.

Particular criticism of the police stems from the fact a warrant for Calocane’s arrest was issued in September 2022 – nearly a year before his city centre killing spree – after he failed to attend court charged with a violent assault of a police officer.

ACC Griffin admitted that, in hindsight, the force should have done more to arrest him at that time.

On the Nottinghamshire Police website, he said: “The devastating impact that the events of June 13 have had and continue to have for the families of those killed and those that survived these dreadful attacks are immeasurable.

“I have personally reviewed this matter and we should have done more to arrest him.

“In my opinion, it is highly unlikely that he would have received a custodial sentence for the alleged assault.

“Of course, an arrest may have triggered a route back into mental health services, but as we have seen from his previous encounters with those services, it seems unlikely that he would have engaged in this process.”

“On June 13, we acted fast and efficiently to take this dangerous offender off the streets of Nottingham.

“We referred ourselves to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) after his arrest.

"This was because in the minutes before his arrest he was being followed by a police vehicle and ran over two pedestrians.

“This is a standard procedure when a crime occurs while a defendant is being pursued by police.

"The IOPC investigated this matter and said we followed all relevant guidelines.

“This was one of the darkest days in our city’s history and our officers will continue to support all those families affected by this horrific crime.”

Also on the website, Nottinghamshire Police said: “Nottinghamshire Police previously engaged with the defendant largely while supporting our colleagues in the NHS on a number of occasions.

“We have helped transport the defendant to Highbury Hospital for treatment because he was sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

“On each occasion, he was released by mental health services and his mental health managed by them within the community.

“In September 2021, we were requested to support mental health services with 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 January 2022, we were called to an incident where the defendant is alleged to have assaulted a flatmate.

"We did attend this incident, but because police action was not supported, we did not arrest the defendant on this occasion.

“However, the resultant mental health referral did result in him being detained once again in a mental health establishment.

“In August 2022, he was reported for summons and was due to attend court on September 22, 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.

"He was never arrested for that warrant which was still outstanding at the point of his arrest in June 2023, when he brutally killed three people and seriously injured three others on the streets of Nottingham.

“After the June 2023 attacks, we followed the IOPC guidance and, having shared details with them, we undertook professional discussions to establish whether the referral criteria was met over not executing the warrant for his arrest.

“Following advice that the criteria for referral was not met, we decided not to make a referral, but undertook an internal review of this matter ourselves.”