Killer 'assaulted couple weeks before attacks'

A triple killer had violently assaulted two of his colleagues weeks before he killed three people in spate of attacks in Nottingham, a public inquiry has heard.

Valdo Calocane stabbed to death Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and 65-year-old Ian Coates and tried to kill three others on 13 June 2023.

On Tuesday, the Nottingham Inquiry heard that on 5 May 2023, police were called to the warehouse in Kegworth, Leicestershire, where Calocane had punched a man and assaulted his wife.

Police had not visited the victims or witnesses to get statements, and sent them a follow-up email for information three days before Calocane carried out the deadly attacks, the inquiry heard.

The inquiry is examining the events that led up to the attacks and the actions or decisions made by agencies which had dealings with Calocane.

So far, witnesses from Nottinghamshire Police, the University of Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust have given evidence, as well as former neighbours of Calocane and flatmates he lived with as a student.

The hearings are being held at Mary Ward House in London and are expected to last a total of nine weeks.

Calocane - referred to as VC throughout the inquiry - had been employed on 1 May 2023 by an agency to work at the warehouse, run by Arvato, a supply chain and logistics firm.

On 5 May, he attacked two of his colleagues, a married couple.

In a statement following the assault, which was read to the inquiry, the husband said he was punched in the head twice after asking Calocane to wait for him to finish scanning something.

He said Calocane looked at him in a "strange manner", before approaching him an hour later and asking "why are you talking to me?"

The victim was punched behind the ear while he was facing away from Calocane, and as he tried to get away, Calocane punched him again and he fell to the ground.

"When I fell down, I was extremely dizzy, the room was spinning with me, I couldn't see well," he said.

While he was on the ground, the victim said he saw his wife stand in front of him as Calocane approached.

"Then [Calocane] got very angry and he kicked my wife," he said.

"He kicked her in one of her knees and then he pushed my wife with both hands to her chest.

"I could see that he pushed her very hard. My wife then fell on top of me."

A woman known only as Louisa, who was a training coordinator at the warehouse at the time, and an operations manager - identified only as Matthew - told the inquiry they intervened after hearing screams in the warehouse.

Louisa said: "I stood myself in front of VC so my back would have been to the victims.

"VC just stood in front of me, there were no words coming out of his VC's mouth."

Matthew also stood between Calocane and the others, he said.

They both told the inquiry it felt as though Calocane was "looking through" them as he "paced back and forth" following the assault.

The inquiry heard Leicestershire Police was called and arrived about 20 minutes later. By then, Calocane had walked off the site.

Matthew said he told attending officers how he believed something was wrong with Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia before carrying out his killings.

"I felt like he had some kind of mental illness to be honest, or he was mentally unstable," he said.

He added he found the incident "very unusual".

Another warehouse worker, a security guard known only as Volodimir, also said he tried to stop Calocane and kicked a knife away from the scene, which he believed Calocane might use. The inquiry heard police were told about this.

The inquiry has already heard that by this point, there was an outstanding warrant for Calocane's arrest, for failing to appear in court in September 2022 after he assaulted a police officer a year earlier.

Calocane had also been sectioned under the Mental Health Act on numerous occasions since 2020, and had been involved with a number of incidents - including assaulting former housemates, following a former flatmate home and breaking into neighbours' flats.

By 2 June 2023, nearly a month after the incident on 5 May, police had not visited Louisa or the victims, according to a police log.

On 10 June - three days before Calocane's killings - Louisa and one of the victims were sent an email from Leicestershire Police, saying officers had been trying to contact them and asked them to get back in touch as soon as possible.

The inquiry was also told of an email from 30 May, from a warehouse manager at Arvato to others in the business, saying she had given police a list of witnesses and asked to be the point of contact, but had not heard back from them.

Louisa said she had been told the business would be dealing with the incident.

Later on Tuesday, the inquiry heard from a hostel worker, known as Ivan, who encountered Calocane on the day of the attacks in 2023.

Ivan was working at a 52-room hostel, Seely Hirst House in Nottingham, when Calocane approached the building and tried to prise open one of the windows.

Ivan told the inquiry he saw a man on CCTV and went outside.

Via a Slovakian interpreter, he said: "I spotted this person who was trying to open the window and I, as a person who often deals with trespassers who are not residents, I assumed it was someone in need of help, a homeless person looking for somewhere to sleep."

The inquiry heard Calocane had asked "what sort of building it was", to which Ivan responded it was hostel, and told him to return later, at 09:00, when social workers would be there.

He said: "I tried to approach his heart. I offered him help. He leant against the railings and was looking into my face with an intense look.

"No blinking, no smiling, he didn't seem nervous at all."

Ivan said he did not think to call the police and asked Calocane to leave the garden of the hostel.

CCTV showed Calocane walked away from Ivan, but then started to approach another window, which was slammed shut in front of Calocane.

The inquiry heard Calocane was punched by a resident while being denied entry to the hostel and eventually left.

By that time Calocane had already killed Barnaby and Grace, and shortly after, stabbed to death Ian Coates before driving his van into the city centre and striking pedestrian Wayne Birkett, Sharon Miller and Marcin Gawronski.

The inquiry continues.

Listen to BBC Radio Nottingham on Sounds and follow BBC Nottingham on Facebook, on X, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk or via WhatsApp on 0808 100 2210.