Inaction on warrant a 'serious failure' before Nottingham attacks, says police chief

A warrant to arrest Valdo Calocane before he killed three people was not carried out for months in what was described by a police chief as a "serious, systemic and operational failure".

Calocane stabbed to death Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley Kumar and Ian Coates before seriously injuring three others in Nottingham on 13 June 2023.

As the judge-led inquiry into the Nottingham attacks continues, Nottinghamshire Police suggested it was not "realistic" Calocane would have been prosecuted and imprisoned if officers had executed the warrant.

But Tim Moloney KC for the bereaved families said any attempt to suggest arresting Calocane would not have made a difference would be "cowardly and insulting".

Police detained Calocane under the Mental Health Act on 3 September 2021 by executing a warrant at his address.

It is alleged that he assaulted a police officer while being taken to Highbury Hospital in Nottingham and he was charged with assault by beating of an emergency worker.

However, a court date was not set until 22 September 2022, more than a year after the incident.

Calocane failed to turn up at court, and a warrant for his arrest was issued but was flagged as a "low priority", the Nottingham Inquiry heard.

However, he was never arrested, and the warrant was still outstanding at the time of the Nottingham attacks in 2023.

Temporary deputy chief constable Rob Griffin has been quoted as describing the failure to execute the warrant as "a serious, systemic operational failure on the part of Nottinghamshire Police".

Weeks before the killings, Calocane was also alleged to have assaulted two colleagues at a factory in Kegworth, Leicestershire, but he was not arrested at the time having reportedly been escorted off site by security.

Calocane stabbed students Barnaby and Grace, both 19, to death as they walked home from a night out in Ilkeston Road, Nottingham.

He then killed Ian, 65, before stealing his van and driving it into three pedestrians - Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller in Nottingham city centre.

At the time of the attacks, the warrant for Calocane's arrest had been outstanding for 10 months.

Moloney said Nottinghamshire Police "just left him out on the streets".

He added: "Any attempt by the police to say arresting him would have made no difference to what was to happen on June 13 2023, sheltering behind some notion that he may not have been convicted and may not have received a custodial sentence, would be cowardly, highly offensive and insulting to the intelligence of the brave families.

"If the police do say that executing a warrant for his arrest would have made no difference, then the people of Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire have a lot to worry about in relation to keeping them safe."

John Beggs KC, who is representing Nottinghamshire Police in the inquiry, said the force should have executed the warrant in a "timely manner", adding: "They failed to do so at all."

"The temporary deputy chief constable [Rob] Griffin described that failure in his statement as, I quote, a serious, systemic, operational failure on the part of Nottinghamshire Police," Beggs said.

"He recognised the seriousness of what happened, or rather, what didn't happen, and the distress it caused. He offered, and we repeat, an unreserved apology to the families of the deceased and the survivors."

But the barrister asked the chairwoman of the inquiry to consider whether it is realistic that Calocane would have been prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned at that time while he was suffering with mental illness.

He added: "We respectfully suggest not but we understand why the bereaved and survivors are concerned by the failure to execute the warrant, and I repeat, we do not seek to defend that failure."

Addressing the alleged assault in Leicestershire weeks before the attacks, James Berry KC, representing the chief constable, said there was an outstanding misconduct process in respect of PC Libbie-Mae Taylor, PC Connor Amos-Perkins and Sgt Mark Read.

Hugh Davies KC - for PC Taylor and PC Amos-Perkins - said the pair attended the incident at the warehouse.

PC Amos-Perkins, the inquiry heard, accepts he made an operational error while investigating the incident.

He said he made mistakes, which meant that Nottinghamshire Police was not notified of the incident while a warrant was in place for his arrest, partially due to the "relentless volume of work".

The inquiry heard PC Taylor had not saved bodyworn footage of police attendance to the warehouse Calocane was working in.

PC Amos-Perkins, Taylor's tutor, did not direct them to do so or check that they did, the inquiry was told.

In addition, PC Taylor did not search on the police database for Calocane's offending history and outstanding criminal matters.

If she had done so, "she would have been able to discover that VC (Valdo Calocane) had an outstanding warrant for his arrest", her barrister said.

Meanwhile, the inquiry heard temporary police sergeant Read did not conduct the required 28-day supervisor's review of PC Taylor's investigation.

For these "shortcomings", the officers apologised.

Moving to the events of 13 June 2023, Moloney told the inquiry that recordings of police calls from the morning of the attacks were "seemingly lost or unavailable", which he described as "astonishing".

He added: "The inquiry may consider whether this lack of consistent, contemporary record is reflective of the care with which Nottinghamshire Police approached the events of June 13 2023."

Also speaking at the inquiry on Tuesday was Jacqueline Carey KC, for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), which defended its decision to accept Calocane's guilty pleas to three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, as well as three counts of attempted murder.

Carey told the inquiry four psychiatrists agreed that Calocane's mental health meant that the partial defence of diminished responsibility was available to him.

Due to this, the CPS, which "must not be swayed by feeling or emotion", accepted his pleas, she said.

The hearing at Mary Ward House in London was told a "small number" of staff from both HM Courts and Tribunals Service and HM Prison and Probation Service were involved in the unauthorised access of information following Calocane's arrest.

The Ministry of Justice, which runs both organisations, apologised to those affected.

Counsel for Nottingham City Council added staff from the authority who also accessed information about the case did so out of "misplaced professional curiosity and concerns given the nature of the events".

Barrister Andrew McNamara said the council was "committed to learning and improving" following the breach.

"The NHS and the system as a whole failed you with devastating consequences," an NHS England solicitor said.

"We have also heard what has been said by those affected and acknowledge that an apology alone is insufficient."

The inquiry, which is expected to hear evidence over the course of nine weeks, continues.