Police chief is ‘hiding away’ from families, says son of attacks victim
‘SOMEONE ELSE SHOULD BE GIVEN A CHANCE TO CHANGE THINGS’
THE Chief Constable of Nottinghamshire Police is “hiding away behind emails” from the families of those killed in the Nottingham attacks, the son of Ian Coates has said.
Father-of-three Ian Coates, 65, was one of three people killed by Valdo Calocane in the Nottingham attacks on June 13, 2023.
After killing University of Nottingham students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’malley-kumar, both 19, Calocane stabbed the school caretaker before stealing his van and attempting to kill three more people with it.
Following Calocane’s sentencing to an indefinite hospital order on January 15, his victims’ families have slammed public agencies like Nottinghamshire Police, Nottinghamshire Healthcare Trust, and the Crown Prosecution Service, as more and more missed opportunities and failings related to the case surface.
Now Ian’s son James has reiterated calls for Chief Constable Kate Meynell to step aside and accused her of hiding from the families, instead of being transparent and accountable.
“The Chief Constable Kate Meynell is hiding away behind emails, why can she not just pick up the phone?” Mr Coates said.
“I do respect the police and we’re not calling for them to be dismantled, but more could have been done and Kate Meynell was in charge - so someone else should be given a chance to change things and make them better.”
The Post understands the Chief Constable has offered to meet the families in person, but has declined to answer further questions on police conduct, citing The Independent Office for Police Conduct’s (IOPC) ongoing investigation into the force.
Nottinghamshire Police are currently being investigated by IOPC for their handling of the investigation following Calocane’s stabbings, its previous interactions with the killer, and its failure to catch him during a nine-month period when he was subject to an arrest warrant.
“When I was younger you knew
the police were there to help, but it doesn’t feel like they have been there for us,” Mr Coates said.
Nottinghamshire Police apologised to the attacks victims’ families on Wednesday, February 21, after it emerged they had not been informed of multiple investigations into officers and staff who had accessed information about the attacks, despite having no policing justification to do so.
A Special Constable was dismissed after he viewed body-worn video footage of the two teenage University of Nottingham students being treated by medics on Ilkeston Road on his laptop. Another officer police officer, Matt Gell, received a
final written warning after he shared information about the attacks in a text message and breached confidentiality standards.
Mr Coates stated it was his belief that “it was more than just one or two people involved” in the inappropriate accessing of information about the attacks.
The 38-year-old, who grew up in Bestwood, said he found the city’s failure to protect his father particularly distressing.
“The people you expect to help you have failed us,” he added. “These are the leading agencies of our city my dad was Nottingham through and through and would be so upset and angry that they let him, Barnaby and Grace down. I feel let down by all the agencies that were involved, they could not do their job to protect innocent people and preserve life.
“They have all taken shortcuts - I feel like these structural issues have been going on for years.” Mr Coates, who has previously heavily criticised the acceptance of Calocane’s manslaughter plea and the subsequent indefinite hospital order, explained he had grave concerns that last year’s tragedy could be repeated in the future if substantial changes were not made.
“I am disappointed with everybody involved, the police, healthcare services, the CPS, and there were a lot of missed opportunities to stop him. My biggest fear is that something like this could happen to other innocent people. Knowing that my dad was let down by everyone you’d think he could rely on is a bitter pill to swallow.”
Mr Coates expressed sorrow that his dad would not be at his wedding in April, adding that a photo of his dad will be displayed on the day to remember him and that he would mention him in his speech. Both the Webbers and the O’malley-kumars have been invited to the wedding, with Mr Coates explaining that last year’s awful events had created a close bond between the families of the three victims. The Webbers will be attending the occasion, while the O’malley-kumars have a prior engagement.
“We [the Coates family] would have fought as hard as we could to get answers over dad’s death if we were on our own, but I don’t think we would have got this far without the Webbers and the O’malley-kumars,” he said. “We feel that Valdo [Calocane] picked the wrong people.”
When I was younger you knew the police were there to help, but it doesn’t feel like they have been there for us.
James Coates