Attacks inquiry revealed miscarriage of justice, victim's mother says

A public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks revealed a "catastrophic collapse of responsibility" and an "undoubted miscarriage of justice", the mother of one of the victims has said.

Valdo Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020, stabbed to death Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates, and tried to kill three others in Nottingham on 13 June 2023.

The lead-up to the attacks and the aftermath were scrutinised during a 14-week public inquiry, which concluded on Friday.

Speaking at a joint press conference held by the bereaved families in London on Monday, Barnaby's mother Emma Webber said: "It has been brutal, bruising and harrowing beyond measure - but it was so very necessary."

She said: "This wasn't bad luck. It was a catastrophic collapse of responsibility. An undoubted miscarriage of justice that must now be addressed."

Emma is calling on the government to meet the families within the next month, adding they would be calling for "urgent re-examination".

She said: "The findings of this inquiry will not be made until spring of next year, however, that does not prevent action from being taken now.

"This isn't about vengeance, it's about doing the right thing. Excuses stop here and accountability starts today."

Speaking to BBC Woman's Hour earlier, Emma added the families would be "looking at every single option", and that they were "expecting to meet with the Attorney General".

The Nottingham Inquiry - the hearings of which began on 23 February, heard from 164 witnesses and ended last week - laid bare a series of failings by authorities, including the NHS and police, in the years leading up to the attacks and in the aftermath.

Calocane is currently serving an indefinite hospital order after pleading guilty to three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and three counts of attempted murder in relation to survivors Wayne Birkett, Sharon Miller and Marcin Gawronski.

The bereaved families have maintained the attacks were avoidable and never been happy with Calocane's sentence.

Now oral evidence has concluded, the core participants of the inquiry will share closing statements at hearings in September, before the chair of the inquiry - retired senior judge Deborah Taylor KC - is expected to release a report with her recommendations next year.

Ian's son, James Coates, said for "what felt like a very long time", he and the other bereaved families believed "institutions did everything they could".

"Unfortunately, we were delusional in our belief that justice would be served," he