Body of father was at attacks scene for 15 hours

The body of a school caretaker who was brutally stabbed to death in the Nottingham attacks was left at a crime scene for 15 hours, a public inquiry has heard.

Valdo Calocane stabbed to death 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and 65-year-old Ian Coates, and tried to kill three others in a spate of attacks in Nottingham on 13 June 2023.

Police arrived at Magdala Road - where Ian had been killed - at about 05:40 BST, but his body was still at the scene at 20:30 that night.

Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Rob Griffin, of Nottinghamshire Police, told the inquiry on Monday he could not imagine the distress caused to Ian's family, saying it was "awful".

Griffin was assistant chief constable at the time of the attacks, and assumed the role of "gold commander" on the day - the senior officer with overall strategic command.

The Nottingham Inquiry, which is being held in London and chaired by retired senior judge Deborah Taylor KC, is examining the build-up to the attacks and the response that followed.

Griffin told the inquiry he was only made aware that Ian's body had been left in Magdala Road for 15 hours at the weekend, just before giving his evidence.

On the day of the attacks, Calocane first stabbed Barnaby and Grace at about 04:00 in Ilkeston Road.

He then walked nearly two miles away towards Mapperley Road and then to Magdala Road, where at 05:14 he killed Ian - who at the time worked for Huntingdon Academy in Nottingham and was four months from retirement.

Calocane then took Ian's van and proceeded to drive into the city centre before knocking down the survivors of the attacks - Wayne Birkett, Sharon Miller and Wayne Gawronski.

At 05:39, police arrived at Magdala Road, having been called by a witness shortly before.

Asked by Tim Moloney KC - the barrister representing the bereaved families - why the father of three was left for such a long time - Griffin said: "It does seem like a long time.

"And for Ian's family, that is particularly traumatic."

At that point during the hearing, Darren Coates - one of Ian's sons - muttered "damn right".

Griffin added: "I have to trust those who say that that amount of time was necessary in order to ensure that all forensic opportunity was maximised."

He said he could not go into any further detail than that.

The inquiry also heard a forensic tent had not arrived at the scene in Magdala Road to cover Ian's body until 07:55.

"Until then, he lay in the street with a blanket or blankets over him," Moloney said.

Asked if he could imagine the distress of that notion for the families, Griffin said: "I actually can't imagine it, it's awful."

He added he did not know the circumstances in "sufficient detail" to know if Ian's body had to stay at the scene for that long.

Griffin was also questioned about how the force handled communications with bereaved families, both in the immediate aftermath of the attacks and following Calocane's sentencing in January 2024.

In a statement made to the media after the attacks, Griffin said: "I'm really confident that everything that we did was thorough and professional.

"I wouldn't have looked to have changed anything, and tragically, we couldn't have stopped any of what happened."

Griffin said he now apologised for those words, and the impact they would have had on the families and survivors.

"And I want to say again that I'm so, so sorry about that," Griffin said.

"It was the tone and choice of words and the lack of empathy - that is what I really reflect on and I apologise for."

A separate force statement shared with the media, which was scrutinised at the inquiry, said it was "91 minutes from call to cuffs" on 13 June.

Griffin denied that statement was made to make the force look good.

Julian Blake KC, counsel to the inquiry, said: "It sounds from that final press release that the 91-minute press release is being used there to suggest that this arrest was as a result of great police action, rather than as a result of having mowed down pedestrians in the city centre. Would you agree?"

Griffin said it "could be interpreted" that way, however, that was not his intention.

"It was never designed to indicate that he was arrested due to - to use your words sir - great police work," he added.

"But I do believe it gives an important context to the events of the evening."

Blake added: "Reflecting more broadly - and we'll come to more examples - was there a failure to realise how those kind of statements might have affected the bereaved and the survivors?"

Griffin responded: "Yes, I think there was.

"And I've thought about that a lot and continue to, and I can see - and I saw on the day of sentence - the hurt I've caused, which was quite the opposite of my intention.

"And I know I've said it in my witness statement, but I've never had the opportunity to say to the families that I'm so, so sorry."

The inquiry also heard police did not tell the bereaved families about misconduct proceedings against a number of police personnel, who were looking at images and footage of the attacks unnecessarily, for several months.

They were also not initially informed about an arrest warrant that was still outstanding at the time of the attacks, the inquiry heard.

There has been no wider investigation into which police staff viewed the sensitive information about the attacks on police systems thus far, the inquiry heard.

Blake asked Griffin: "Do you consider it odd that there hasn't been a proactive investigation into who accessed images and footage, video footage?"

Griffin replied: "I thought there ought to have been, yes."

The inquiry heard the survivors of attacks were never informed of the arrest warrant nor the police's previous interactions with Calocane - who is being referred to as VC throughout the inquiry - directly by the force, the inquiry heard.

Sophie Cartwright KC, representing the survivors, told Griffin they only learned of the warrant and previous interactions through the inquiry.

"The fact that the surviving victims were not given information about previous contact with VC is a fundamental failing," Griffin added.

The inquiry continues.

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