The punishment for the Nottingham bomber should include a prison sentence, the court said

A man who stabbed three people in Nottingham should have his prison sentence commuted, appeal judges have ruled.

Valdo Calocane killed Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and 65-year-old Ian Coates in June 2023.

Lawyers told the appeal court that Calocane should be sentenced to life in prison under a “hybrid order.”

As well as killing Mr Webber, Ms O’Malley-Kumar and Mr Coates, Calocane stole Mr Coates’ van and drove it at three pedestrians, all of whom were seriously injured.

On Wednesday, Calocane, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia before the attacks, appeared in court via video link from Ashworth maximum security hospital near Liverpool.

Deanna Heer KC, representing the Attorney General’s Office, said Calocane should have been given a hospital and restriction order – referred to in court as a “hybrid order” – in which he was to be treated in hospital before being transferred to prison.

While she did not criticize the original sentencing judge’s approach, she said psychiatrists who testified in court did not comment on the need for a prison sentence.

“Their assessments did not include the need for punishment or a criminal law aspect intended for the sentencing judge,” she said.

“The exceptional seriousness of the offenses was such that the case required the imposition of a sentence with a punitive element, a punitive element.”

Ms Heer pointed out that Calocane brought knives to the scene of the attacks and also used a vehicle as a weapon, saying the “significant level of planning and premeditation” showed the risk he posed to the public.

“He acted premeditatedly and with intent to kill,” she said.

Peter Joyce KC, representing Calocane, told the court that the defendant’s mental illness was the central feature of the attacks.

“Without the psychosis, these crimes – none of them – would have been committed,” he said.

“He was affected by this terrible condition through absolutely no fault of his own.”

Mr Joyce described Calocane as “a hard-working man who had successfully completed university” and said the illness still affected him, including hearing voices which he felt were controlling him.

“The voices are happy about the trouble they got him into here,” he said. “They’re happy with the impact they had on him.”

Mr Joyce pointed out that psychiatrists agreed that Calocane would “probably spend the rest of his life” in hospital and said it would be “wrong” for him to be “punished for his mental illness”.

“It will probably never see the light of day again,” he said.

“The question we ask is: How can this be an unreasonably lenient sentence in anyone’s language?”

Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr said she and her two fellow judges would retire to consider their sentence.

She said a decision is expected to be made in about seven days.

“We are of course aware of how extremely stressful this case is for everyone involved,” she added.

After the hearing, the victims’ families said the hearing was an “ongoing part of the fight” for justice.

Emma Webber, Mr Webber’s mother, said they were “grateful” to the Attorney-General for referring the case.

“Next week we’ll finally get an answer, but that’s not closure, it’s not closure,” she said.

Ms O’Malley-Kumar’s father, Sanjoy Kumar, said the families still wanted a public inquiry to examine the “long list of people (and) organizations that have failed us”.

“It’s very, very difficult for all of us to go through this process when all we should be doing is grieving,” he said.

“We will fight all organizations that have failed us.”