Nottingham families: We need inquiry

THE families of the Nottingham stabbing victims said only a public inquiry ‘will bring closure’ following a meeting with the Crown Prosecution Service.

Relatives said they are struggling with ‘reliving the horror’ of the killings after a series of meetings with the CPS and the Care Quality Commission.

Valdo Calocane, 32, stabbed to death students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, before killing school caretaker Ian Coates, 65.

But he was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility after he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Ahead of yesterday’s meeting, Barnaby’s mother Emma, 51, said they were ‘railroaded’ by the CPS over the manslaughter decision. She told the BBC: ‘What we were given was a fait accompli, and we had a lot of concerns that were in the most part wholly ignored.’

After the meeting, where they laid bare their anger over how the case was handled, Ms Webber said: ‘I think today was the beginning... it was a productive meeting and we do feel listened to.’ She added that it was ‘exhausting’ to ‘keep reliving the horror’ of June 13 with every individual investigation. ‘But we will keep fighting until we feel justice is served for our lost loved ones,’ she said.

The Attorney General has ordered an independent review of the CPS’s handling of the case. Last week, the Independent Office for Police Conduct said it had begun an investigation into contact Leicestershire Police had with Calocane.

The families were expected to speak to the Attorney General last night to demand the remit of the investigation is widened.