Following the sentencing of Valdo Calocane for the fatal stabbings of students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and the killing of school caretaker Ian Coates in June 2021, NHS England is to launch a major investigation into Calocane’s contact with mental health services over the past four years. The Independent Mental Health Homicide Review will attempt to determine whether there were any missed opportunities to prevent or predict the killings. Calocane was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, and it was revealed during the trial that he believed MI5 was watching him.
Calocane had been admitted to a psychiatric unit in Nottingham four times since May 2020, but was discharged each time, including one final discharge in February 2022, more than a year before the killings occurred. He had been prescribed anti-psychotic medication, which he stopped taking, leading to a further decline in his mental health. The families of Calocane’s victims have questioned the care he received, with Dr Sanjoy Kumar, Grace O’Malley-Kumar’s father, suggesting there were missed opportunities to intervene.
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust runs mental health services in the county and has said that it “robustly” reviewed its interactions with Calocane. Chief Executive Ifti Majid acknowledged the seriousness of the crime Calocane had committed but also noted that many people with severe mental health issues received support and did not offend. Calocane has been sentenced to a hospital order, after pleading guilty on the basis of diminished responsibility to three counts of manslaughter and three counts of attempted murder. The attorney general’s office has since received a referral arguing the sentence was unduly lenient.
The specifics of the Independent Mental Health Homicide Review, including the panel that will lead it and its terms of reference, have yet to be finalised. Dr Mike Harris, a consultant psychiatrist and former director of Rampton high-security hospital in Nottinghamshire, noted the difficulty of trying to answer whether the attacks could have been prevented. He noted that the key question was determining whether there were any early warning signs that had been missed and whether there were any lapses in the follow-up care Calocane received after being discharged from hospital. The review is expected to take several months to conclude
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