Inquiry Reveals Missed Arrest Warrant in Nottingham Stabbing Case

Valdo Calocane, who killed three people and seriously injured three others during a stabbing spree in Nottingham on June 13, 2023 (Source: bbc.com), had a documented history of violent incidents and mental health issues that authorities failed to address adequately. A public inquiry into the attacks has revealed new details about Calocane's violent behavior towards his flatmates and assaults on police officers.

Calocane assaulted his university flatmate Christopher by putting him in a headlock after being asked to clean up their shared bathroom on January 15, 2022. Mobile phone footage captured the incident. According to Christopher, 'nothing happened' after he contacted police about the assault (Source: news.sky.com). Calocane also grabbed another flatmate, Sebastian, and held him against a wall, causing Sebastian to move out of their shared accommodation due to fear.

The inquiry also heard that Calocane headbutted and punched Police Constable Barnaby Pritchard while a warrant to detain him under the Mental Health Act was carried out on September 3, 2021. After being restrained, Tasered, and handcuffed, Calocane told Pritchard 'you did good' and 'you didn't go down'. The assault caused swelling to PC Pritchard's face (Source: bbc.com).

Calocane attempted to hand himself into MI5 at their headquarters in London on May 31, 2021. He was described as 'calm, compliant and coherent' during the incident by PC Graham Foster. Supt Lorraine Busby-McVey of the Metropolitan police stated that Calocane was 'looked at' by the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FATC) but did not meet their threshold to be assessed further.

A significant revelation from the inquiry is that a police officer missed an outstanding arrest warrant for Valdo Calocane in his log weeks before he carried out deadly attacks in Nottingham. PC Libbie Mae Taylor, who was dealing with an incident at a warehouse in Kegworth where Calocane had assaulted a couple, apologized and told the inquiry she 'didn't see' the warrant despite evidence that she viewed the log (Source: bbc.com). The warrant was issued when Calocane failed to appear at Nottingham Crown Court in September 2022 for assaulting a police officer a year earlier.

The inquiry heard how on May 5, 2023, Calocane punched another worker at the warehouse, knocking him to the ground, before kicking and pushing the man's wife. Leicestershire Police was called but Calocane had been escorted off the site before Taylor and her supervisor PC Connor Amos-Perkins arrived (Source: bbc.com).

Taylor, who was a probationary PC at the time, told the inquiry how she took brief notes while speaking to staff members and the victims, but did not save the footage from her body-worn camera as she did not think it necessary. The inquiry heard that Calocane had been recruited through an agency called Sky Recruitment and started working at the site on May 1 (Source: bbc.com).

An audit of the police database showed Taylor had clicked on to the log twice, once for about half a minute, and on a second occasion for 42 seconds. However, she said she made her own entry in relation to the assault at the warehouse but did not look at the rest of the log (Source: bbc.com).

Amos-Perkins, in his evidence, said he too could not recall 'checking over' entries on Calocane's history on the police database. He admitted that he should have helped Taylor use the Niche database 'step by step' and coordinated how the incident was dealt with (Source: bbc.com).

The inquiry is led by retired senior judge Deborah Taylor KC and is hearing evidence from more than 100 witnesses over nine weeks. The investigation has revealed that Nottinghamshire Police closed investigations into Calocane after receiving advice from Dr Faizal Seedat, who observed him in hospital after being sectioned under the Mental Health Act (Source: dailymail.co.uk).

Calocane killed University of Nottingham undergraduates Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar (both aged 19) and grandfather Ian Coates (aged 65) during his stabbing spree. The inquiry is ongoing, with more testimonies expected in the coming weeks.