‘I wanted to set the world on fire,’ says victim’s brother
Charlie Webber tells court that he has lost ‘the best thing that ever happened in my life’
The younger brother of a university student killed by a knifeman has said that when he learnt of his sibling’s death he wanted to “set the world on fire”.
Barnaby Webber was killed alongside Grace O’malley-kumar on June 13 last year by paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane, who went on to take the life of school caretaker Ian Coates.
Calocane, originally from Guineabissau, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility.
On Tuesday, the details of his violent “killing spree” were revealed in detail as emotional impact statements were read out by the families of the victims.
Yesterday, at Nottingham Crown Court, Charlie Webber, in the final statement from a relative of the victims, described his brother, who studied history at the University of Nottingham, as a “hero”.
Charlie said that when he first learnt of his 19-year-old sibling’s violent death he “wanted to set the world on fire”.
“I was angry with everyone … but I now realise my anger was really pride.
“He didn’t run, he didn’t hide. He stood his ground and died being the person who he was, a hero. My hero.
“He was the best thing that ever happened in my life and when he died it not only took him but it also took a large part of myself.” He said his brother was “always the person I went to if scared or had a tough decision to make. He was the final piece in what seemed like an unsolvable puzzle.”
Charlie said he could not face life without Barnaby and when his older sibling first went to university he felt like he had “lost his armour but still had to fight”.
He added: “I remember the stupid arguments we had about who would die first. I remember how desperate I was to win arguments against him. But now I wish I had lost.”
At the end of the first day of evidence, the families of Calocane’s victims were warned that his lawyers will “inevitably say things with which they profoundly disagree” as his mental state is assessed in court.
Peter Joyce KC, defending Calocane, said: “We are not ignorant or unaware of the depths of despair, darkness and desolation that have come across.
“We will do our very, very best not to do anything to make it worse.
“We will not say anything, of course we won’t, that goes detrimentally to any of the people, family, victims or friends who, by his actions, have been so badly harmed by this defendant.”
However, he added: “It is inevitable that we will say things with which they profoundly disagree.”
Dr Sanjoy Kumar, Grace’s father, has accused the mechanical engineering graduate of “concocting” a story of mental illness after his arrest and said that he had “deceived” psychiatrists.
He added: “It is my regret that psychiatrists did not interview you face to face and get accounts from people who saw you on the day. If they had seen you they would have seen you were of sound mind.”
Before the sentencing, 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. He had been due to appear in court in August 2022 and a warrant had been issued for his arrest in September of that year.
Calocane, who had a history of mental health problems which began during the coronavirus lockdowns, was formally diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia in July 2020 .
He is currently being kept in a high- security psychiatric facility.
The hearing continues.
‘I remember how desperate I was to win arguments against him. Now I wish I had lost’