Killer broke into flat minutes after being released

Triple killer Valdo Calocane broke into the flat of a woman who fractured her spine when she fell from a window trying to flee - 11 minutes after he was released from custody, a public inquiry has heard.

Calocane killed Ian Coates, 65, and 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, and seriously injured three others in the Nottingham attacks of 13 June 2023.

Three years earlier, on 24 May 2020, Calocane was experiencing a psychotic episode when he kicked in the door of the woman's flat, leaving her needing surgery.

On Monday, a police officer told the Nottingham Inquiry she stood by her decision not to pursue a prosecution over the break-in, due to Calocane's mental health.

The Nottingham Inquiry, led by retired Judge Deborah Taylor, is continuing to hear evidence about the events leading up to the attacks.

Calocane, who was 31 when he carried out the killings, had been known to the NHS and police, due to his history of mental health issues and previous incidents.

More than 100 witnesses, including police officers, NHS workers and former flatmates, are expected to give evidence to the inquiry in London over nine weeks.

The inquiry has heard police were called to two incidents at Brook Court in Radford in Nottingham, several hours apart, on 24 May 2020.

Calocane, the inquiry was told, had attempted to force entry into a flat in the early hours, believing his mother was being raped inside the property, and was subsequently arrested.

He was then released from custody to Brook Court - a short journey from the police station - at 19:18 and at 19:29, the police were called to the incident involving the woman who broke her spine.

Calocane, who was 28 at the time, was then detained under the Mental Health Act.

At the time, he had not been given a formal diagnosis for his mental health issues. He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in July 2020, prior to carrying out his deadly attacks.

The woman - who gave evidence to the inquiry anonymously on Friday - was left requiring screws and metalwork to be fitted to her spine, and was told she could have been paralysed. She was not known to Calocane.

Nottinghamshire Police decided not to pursue a prosecution due to Calocane's mental health and based on the opinion of the consultant Dr Faizal Seedat at Highbury Hospital, where Calocane had been detained.

The inquiry heard Seedat - who was not made aware by police of the earlier incident - said Calocane was deemed "not in touch with reality" at the time he broke into the flat.

Sgt Katie Sparks told the inquiry Calocane was not interviewed, and added she believed an interview would not have altered the outcome of her decision.

"All aspects of the investigation were in place at the time and I made that decision with the information that was available to me at the time," Sparks said.

"Reflecting on it now, sitting here today, we could have gone back and got more details in a more comprehensive way."

Julian Blake KC, counsel to the inquiry, replied: "Could, or should have?"

"We should have," Sparks said.

Sparks added: "I still stand by my decision - that the doctor's email provided me the information that was evidentially disclosable and therefore concluded my investigation."

She said she made the decision with the "best of intentions".

The inquiry was also told none of the officers who dealt with the two incidents on 24 May 2020 linked them together on the force's digital logging system, but should have, according to a number of officers who gave evidence.

The break-in of the woman's flat was initially logged by police as actual bodily harm, but once the severity of her injuries was known, should have been treated as grievous bodily harm (GBH).

Sparks told the inquiry the incident was acknowledged by officers as being a GBH incident, although it was not logged as such.

She added even though GBH was not chargeable by police and should be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service, police constables often dealt with "low level" incidents.

Chairwoman Deborah Taylor asked if Sparks would have closed down the case if the woman had been paralysed.

Sparks replied: "Probably not. Had things been different, of course I would consider a different way."

The inquiry continues.

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