Scared students prioritising money for taxis over food after stabbings in city
UNIVERSITY students say they are scared to walk home from a night out after the Nottingham attacks.
Grace O’malley-kumar and Barnaby Webber were stabbed to death by Valdo Calocane on June 13 last year.
Hundreds of students attended an emotional vigil for the first-year students in the aftermath of the killings.
While the incident was thrust back into the national spotlight when Calocane was given a hospital order in January, officers for the University of Nottingham’s Students’ Union said the tragedy has always remained on their minds.
“I think now I would never ever walk home after a night out, and that was something I used to do all the time,” said liberation officer Noa Holt.
“That’s the same with my housemates. We prioritise paying for taxis over food sometimes – that’s how severe it is. It’s left a massive trauma and loss on the student community, and the wider community as well.”
Elle Leech, the union’s welfare officer, agreed, adding: “It definitely did at the time. There was a feeling of unsafety and people were nervous about going on nights out, understandably.”
The pair were speaking at a Nottingham Night Time Safety Forum, arranged to discuss separate issues such as around clubs, safe spaces and spiking.
“Even organising this event, [the attacks were] always on my mind,” said Ms Holt. “I’d say it’s definitely on my mind today and it definitely has left a big mark on the community in terms of moving forward and feeling safe to do so.”
The annual safety forum, at the Motorpoint Arena, heard about a variety of student safety concerns about nights out.
They included criticism of police’s handling of spiking reports and the treatment of students kicked out of clubs.
“There’s a big issue of people being kicked out and there’s no support,” Hannah, from the university’s Students Against Sexual Violence and Sexism group, told the meeting.
“We’ve had people kicked out and not able to pick up things like their phones.
“They’re left on the street with no way of getting home. What are they supposed to do in that situation?”
She also called for more public transport throughout the night.
Before the meeting, Ms Holt said students still did not feel safe, adding: “We’re still hearing about spiking, harassment etc. being in the city. We even hear about bad instances with nightclub staff as well, like security. Students often feel they’ve been manhandled or touched inappropriately. There’s also the issue of students being kicked out for being ‘too drunk’ but actually there was an instance of spiking.”
Ms Leech added: “A lot of students come to me with issues they’ve experienced as part of the night-time economy. It’s usually female students and female-presenting students with things along the lines of sexual violence and sexual assault.”
Ms Holt said the meeting, attended by university officials, Nottinghamshire Police, venue representatives and support services like Topaz Centre, was a chance to “bring together all the key stakeholders to work collaboratively to make it safer”.
“I’m hoping people will form partnerships and take collaborative action that can translate into tangible change and a safer city,” she said.
A university spokesperson said: “The safety and security of our students is of paramount importance to us and we and our students’ union
work closely with Nottinghamshire Police and other partners across the city on a range of crime prevention and safety initiatives to offer support and reassurance to our community.
“This includes a joint partnership with the police and Nottingham Trent University which provides us with a dedicated police constable and PCSO who work with campus security, our community engagement team and the students’ union on student safety initiatives and education and awareness projects and help to support crime detection and prevention on campus.”
Safety measures the university had taken include paying for police overtime in Lenton and Radford in the late hours, its Safer Taxi Scheme and the distribution of anti-spiking drink toppers.