Nottingham attack families honour victims on emotional memorial walk 2 years on | UK | News
PA Best Emma Webber, the mother of Barnaby Webber (centre left) and Dr Sanjoy Kumar, the father of G (Image: PA)
A series of âcover-upsâ and âmistruthsâ have been made surrounding the healthcare provided to Nottingham triple killer Valdo Calocane before his stabbing rampage, the heartbroken mother of one of his victims has claimed.
Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, killed three people â 19-year-old students Grace OâMalley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates â and attempted to kill three more in Nottingham in June 2023. Today the grieving families staged a memorial walk to re-trace their loved-ones final steps before they encountered knife-wielding killer.
They were joined by family and friends, including a number of students with whom Barnaby and Grace had enjoyed their first year away from home at university when their lives were brutally cut short. And Sharon Miller and Wayne Birkett, who were struck by a van driven by Calocane later the same morning, also joined the families as they walk to lay flowers where “their loved ones fell”.
(left to right) Ian, Barnaby and Grace (Image: PA)
Emma Webber, the mother of Barnaby Webber laying flowers on Ilkeston Road in Nottingham, to mark the (Image: PA)
The families wore green and gold to represent the University of Nottingham and red for Nottingham Forest, the football team supported by Mr Coates.
Ms O’Malley-Kumar and Mr Webber were stabbed to death in Ilkeston Road as they walked home from a night out in the city in the early hours.
Calocane then went on to kill Mr Coates in Magdala Road, before stealing his van and driving it into Mrs Miller, Mr Birkett and Marcin Gawronski in the city centre.
The memorial walk, to Ilkeston Road and Magdala Road, took 90 minutes.
Prior to the walk, Emma Webber, the mother of Mr Webber, said: âWe will walk in love and respect to the two locations that cost our children and father their lives.
âWe will lay flowers with our love and memories of three wonderful human beings.”
Dr Sanjoy Kumar, the father of Ms O’Malley-Kumar, added: âWe will walk down the street in defiance of anyone who causes terror, anyone who hurts people.
Nottingham triple killer Valdo Calocane (Image: PA)
(left to right) David Webber the father of Barnaby Webber, Dr Sanjoy Kumar and Dr Sinead O’Malley th (Image: PA)
âWe are going to go and bow our heads and lay a rose where our beloved daughter fell.â
In a joint statement, the three families said they had âreceived so much compassion and care from so many that they will continue to garner strength from a show of loveâ.
Meanwhile, a memorial garden to remember Mr Coates was unveiled at the school where he worked as a caretaker, attended by Mr Coatesâ sons James and Lee.
The garden at Huntingdon Academy was built after a fundraising day and with the help of local businesses.
Becky Riley, head of school, said: âThe memorial garden has been a true community act of kindness.
âLocal businesses have given their time and resources to help us create this special space.â
A February report into the care received by the former Nottingham University student detailed how he was not forced to have long-lasting antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles, and how other patients at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust also went on to commit âextremely seriousâ acts of violence.
Families of the victims met with Health Secretary Wes Streeting on Monday where they demanded the names of staff involved in treating Calocane to be made public.
Emma Webber, the mother of Barnaby Webber (left) and Dr Sanjoy Kumar, the father of Grace O’Malley K (Image: PA)
Emma Webber, the mother of Barnaby Webber (left) and Dr Sinead O’Malley, the mother of Grace O’Malle (Image: PA)
Speaking on ITVâs Good Morning Britain on the second anniversary of the attack, Barnaby Webberâs mother Emma Webber said of Calocaneâs care: âWe quite often say, imagine anything that could go wrong, did go wrong and Wes Streeting actually, to quote him, he said âsunlight is the best disinfectantâ.
âThatâs appropriate but, actually, I would say itâs simpler than that.
âI think truth is and once youâve got the truth, then youâve got somewhere to begin, and weâre still getting cover-ups, weâre still getting mistruths and weâre still getting those push-aside emails âwell, the trust will deal with that, or the inquiry will deal with thatâ.
âBut, no, weâre not going to stop.
âI donât know when theyâll learn that we will not stop until we get those answers.â
Ms Webber added that the familiesâ calls for transparency were ânot a witch huntâ.
She said: âIâm sure it can come across that we as families are just so vociferous in finding answers and trying to deal with our grief and our anger and rage at what happened.
âBut itâs much deeper than that, and itâs greater than that, because there are individuals out there that theyâre posing a risk themselves, but theyâre posing a risk to the public, and weâre not on a witch hunt in what weâre doing.
âWe do have the statutory inquiry coming up but that shouldnât stop individuals who, just as basic as failing to do their jobs properly, from being held to account, and thatâs through the professional means.
David Webber, the father of Barnaby Webber lays flowers on Ilkeston Road in Nottingham, to mark the (Image: PA)
âI cannot understand how the NHS have not been able to confirm that anyone has had any disciplinary action against them for what they did or didnât do during his care.â
Grace OâMalley-Kumarâs father, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, told the programme that the families do not have âdetailed answersâ and called for âfull transparencyâ and âtrue accountabilityâ.
He said: âAt this juncture, I think itâs turned into a national representation case for us, because I think what weâve realised is that every family that goes through a horrific tragedy like us, theyâre not given answers, and theyâre given a lot of kerfuffle about what happened when, thatâs all very interesting, the timelines are interesting, but what we want is true accountability.
âBecause when we have accountability, we can then have change and positive change for the country, and weâve not had that, and thatâs been really, really frustrating.â
The father earlier told Good Morning Britain how his daughter was having the âbest year of her lifeâ when she died.
He said: âGrace loved coming up to Nottingham. She loved the people of Nottingham, she loved the university, she was having the best year of her life.
Dr Sanjoy Kumar, the father of Grace O’Malley Kumar at St Paul’s Church, Nottingham, to mark the sec (Image: PA)
âShe was playing her hockey and she was studying her medical degree, she was going to be a doctor in Nottingham, the best year of her life, and it was so horrifically taken away from her.
âThe people of Nottingham have been incredible and weâd really like to thank everyone for their support that they have given us, and theyâve taken us to their hearts.â
Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder.
He was admitted to hospital and sectioned under the Mental Health Act four times between 2020 and 2022 because of his violent behaviour and refusal to take his medication, before NHS services lost track of him and discharged him in the months before the attacks.
Three reports, including one by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), described failings in his care but none included practitionersâ names, Dr Kumar said after meeting Mr Streeting.
Ms Webber said she had a âvisceral reactionâ to returning to the city, adding that âfeels almost like it was yesterdayâ that the attack happened.
Wayne Birkett Nottingham attacks survivor (Image: BBC)
Nottingham attack survivor Sharon Miller and partner Martin (Image: PA)
She added that the group wanted to âwalk in peace and loveâ, and that anyone who wanted to join was âvery welcomeâ.
In a statement, Ifti Majid, chief executive of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: âWe are committed to giving our fullest co-operation and support to the Nottingham Inquiry which has already begun to request documentary evidence from ourselves and other organisations in relation to the devastating events of June 2023.
âIt would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.â