What happened in the Nottingham attacks?

A court will decide this week whether the sentence is too lenient for the man who killed two university students and a janitor last June.

Valdo Calocane, 32, stabbed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, in the early hours of June 13 last year.

In January, Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite prison sentence in a high-security hospital after he admitted manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility.

However, the Court of Appeal in London will review the sentence on Wednesday after a referral from Attorney-General Victoria Prentis which it described as “unduly lenient”.

In recent weeks there have been increasing calls, including from Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, for O’Malley-Kumar to receive a posthumous George Cross for his attempt to save Webber’s life.

What happened in the Nottingham attacks?

At around 4am on June 13, 2023, Calocane fatally attacked Webber and O’Malley-Kumar on Ilkeston Road in Radford, Nottingham. The two were freshmen at the University of Nottingham and were on their way home when Calocane appeared from the shadows and attacked them. Calocane, dressed all in black, inflicted at least ten stab wounds on Webber and then 23 separate wounds on O’Malley-Kumar.

At Nottingham Crown Court in January, prosecutor Karim Khalil KC said O’Malley-Kumar had shown “incredible courage” by trying to protect Webber from Calocane’s blows and fending him off by pushing him away and into the road . The killer then turned his attention to her and was “as uncompromisingly brutal in his attack on Grace as he was in his attack on Barnaby”, Mr Khalil said.

Both students suffered chest and abdominal injuries and were later pronounced dead at the hospital.

After his attack, Calocane walked slowly through the Radford area to Mapperley Park and called his brother at 4.52am to say: “This will be the last time I speak to you. Get the family out of the country.” When asked if he would do something stupid, Calocane told his brother, “It’s already done.”

At 5:04 a.m., Calocane attempted to enter a residential building through a window before being knocked away by someone inside. He then made his way to nearby Magdala Road, where he fatally stabbed Coates ten minutes later.

Calocane then stole his van and drove it into people at a bus stop. Footage released by Nottinghamshire Police showed Calocane deliberately driving towards pedestrian Wayne Birkett, who was hit from behind and suffered two skull fractures and a fractured pelvis.

At around 5.30 a.m., Calocane was attacked by police with a stun gun outside a shop on Bentinck Road and arrested.

What happened in court?

In November 2023, Calocane denied three counts of murder but, due to diminished responsibility, admitted negligently killing his victims. He also pleaded guilty to attempted murder of three other people.

His application was granted on January 23 this year and two days later he was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order, with a judge telling him he would “very likely remain in prison for the rest of his life”.

Calocane was found to be suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the murders, which the judge said “significantly contributed” to him carrying out the attacks.

Watch: Families of Nottingham victims react to CPS verdict

However, appeal court judges will now review the sentence after the attorney general ruled it was too lenient.

Webber’s mother Emma said the victims’ families had been “disappointed” and had not received “true justice”.

Following complaints from victims’ families, the HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) concluded in March that the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was correct in accepting Calocane’s manslaughter charges but could have handled the case better.

Grace O’Malley-Kumar

O’Malley-Kumar’s parents have suggested that the king award her the George Cross, the country’s highest award for bravery in peacetime.

During Calocane’s trial, the court was told she had shown “incredible courage”.

Her mother Sinead O’Malley told The Sun: “The George Cross would certainly be a remarkable recognition of her bravery.

“Grace will never return to us, but we never want her to be forgotten and this would certainly ensure we remember her forever.”

Late last month, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said he was among those supporting calls for her to be given the award.

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