Nottingham victim died a hero trying to save friend
Full report of brutal attack shows that ‘monster’ went looking for other victims after double killing
A NOTTINGHAM UNIVERSITY student died “heroically and valiantly” as she tried to protect her friend from a psychotic knifeman who was wanted by police, her father said yesterday.
Grace O’malley-kumar intervened when Valdo Calocane stabbed Barnaby Webber as the pair were making their way home from a night out last June.
But after O’malley-kumar pushed Calocane off, the attacker turned his knife on her in an “uncompromisingly brutal” assault, Nottingham Crown Court heard. The last moments of her life were revealed at an emotional hearing in which Calocane’s pleas to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility were accepted by prosecutors, meaning he will not be charged with murder.
Her family paid tribute to her heroism in victim impact statements, with Sinead O’malley telling the court her daughter was “brave beyond words”. Her father, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, said: “She heroically and valiantly fought... Like a hero she put herself in harm’s way.” James O’malley-kumar, 17, said that his sister’s death had shaken his faith in God and religion. “No god would allow people like you to exist,” he said, staring directly at her killer.
In a “killing spree” on June 13 last year, Calocane stabbed the two 19-yearolds to death before going on to murder 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates.
Before yesterday’s hearing, it emerged that Calocane was wanted by police at the time of the killings in relation to an assault on an emergency worker in September 2021. Calocane, who had a history of mental health problems that worsened in lockdown, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in July 2020 and is being held in a high-security psychiatric facility.
Dr Kumar said there had been “missed opportunities” by police to prevent his daughter’s death and accused her killer of “deceiving” psychiatrists.
At the hearing, during which family members frequently sobbed and had to leave the room, prosecutors laid out the history of Calocane’s deteriorating mental health and his refusal to engage with professionals trying to help him.
The sentencing hearing, which continues today, is expected to conclude tomorrow.
AS GRACE O’malley-kumar and Barnaby Webber walked home from an endof-year night out, they were captured on CCTV chatting and laughing.
Moments later, with their accommodation in sight, the 19-year-olds were set upon by an attacker who had been lying in wait, and was determined to kill.
At Nottingham Crown Court yesterday, as the details of the killings were laid out in full for the first time, sobs and gasps of anguish were heard.
The mothers of the young victims stared in silence at Valdo Calocane, the “monster” who changed their lives in the early hours of June 13 last year, for most of the hearing.
That was until the prosecutor, opening the case against Calocane, began going through, step by step, the graphic details of their children’s deaths. Calocane travelled to Nottingham late on the evening of June 12 from London, armed with a number of knives and a “double edged fighting dagger”.
He spent hours wandering the streets before disappearing into the shadows near to Ilkeston Road where he lay in wait for a victim to walk past.
Shortly after 4am, O’malley-kumar and Webber walked past his hiding place as they made their way back after a night at Pryzm, a club popular with Nottingham students.
The pair were just 200 metres from home when witnesses in nearby houses described hearing a “blood-curdling scream” and O’malley-kumar shouting: “Why would you do that?”
The attack on Ilkeston Road was caught on the dashcam of a taxi parked nearby and by a neighbour who filmed the events on her phone, Karim Khalil KC, prosecuting, told the court.
As Mr Khalil began to describe the “brutality” of the attack, the mothers of both young victims began sobbing loudly and closed their eyes.
Mr Khalil, after pausing a moment, continued: “The footage shows that the devastating violence of the attacks was mirrored only by the deliberate and merciless way [Calocane] acted.”
Calocane attacked Webber from behind first, “inflicting grave injuries which caused him to fall to the floor”, the prosecutor said. “Grace, demonstrating incredible bravery, sought to protect her friend and fight off the killer, pushing him away and into the road,” he added.
“[Calocane] quickly turned his attention to her, and the two fought for over 30 seconds, during which time [he] stabbed her repeatedly.”
After attacking her, Calocane returned to his first victim, who was lying on the floor. Calocane continued to stab Webber.
“Grace, again, tried to walk towards them, but her injuries were too severe, and she collapsed", Mr Khalil said.
After the killings, Calocane was seen walking away calmly towards the city centre in search of more victims.
As the post-mortems of the students were read out, a number of family members, including Sinead O’malley and Emma Webber, left the courtroom.
Both youngsters died of multiple stab wounds to the chest and abdomen.
James O’malley-kumar said yesterday that his older sister’s “last moments were in pain”.
“That is something that really hurts me to think about,” he told Sky News.
“She was a hero, that was her character. Ultimately I think it is very important that people hear that she tried her best to save her friend, as a 19-year-old girl.”
Following the attack on the students, Calocane then made his way to a residential hostel in Mapperley Road, where he arrived at about 5am.
At 5.04am he tried to access the premises through ground floor windows, but was forced to “retreat” after being confronted by an occupant who punched him in the face.
Calocane later told psychiatrists that he had been looking for more people to kill.
Ian Coates, a school caretaker, was driving his white Vauxhall van to work on nearby Magdala Road when he was stopped by Calocane, who attacked him.
Calocane stabbed him repeatedly and drove off in his vehicle to hunt more victims.
Witnesses again described hearing “blood-curdling screaming” as Calocane took the life of his third victim.
In court, Coates’ son, Lee, left the room as some of the more graphic details were heard.
As he walked past the glass-panelled dock he stared at Calocane and swore at him before being ushered out.
After killing Coates, the court heard that Calocane drove the van onto Woodborough Road, towards the city centre, and at 5.23am was driving south on Milton Street.
Pedestrian Wayne Birkett was crossing the road when Calocane “deliberately and violently” swerved towards him causing him to “flip” onto the pavement.
Mr Birkett suffered a fractured skull, causing a bleed to his brain, and was said to be extremely fortunate to survive.
Calocane then drove in a loop and was seen by a marked police car at about 5.29am.
Officers activated their lights but Calocane accelerated away and then knocked down Sharon Miller and Marcin Gawronski, who were walking to work across a pedestrian central reservation.
Calocane was arrested after being Tasered around five minutes after the final victims were injured, after producing a knife when the van was stopped and boxed in by police vehicles.
Dr Sanjoy Kumar said that his thoughts towards his daughter’s killer were “not kind”.
“She filled the house with sound and music, the house is very quiet,” he told Sky News.
“The love of our life has been taken away from us.
“Music from our ears has been taken away, our landscape has turned from vivid colour to black and white.”
The families are expected to return to court today as the sentencing of Calocane continues.
‘She filled the house with sound and music ... the love of our life has been taken away from us’