Officers face misconduct probe over contact with Nottingham triple killer

Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar died at the scene of the attacks

Three Leicestershire Police officers are under investigation for potential misconduct over their contact with triple killer Valdo Calocane.

Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and 65-year-old Ian Coates were fatally stabbed in Nottingham on 13 June 2023.

The force had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), after it emerged officers were investigating a report Calocane had assaulted two colleagues on 5 May at a warehouse in Kegworth, Leicestershire.

Two police constables and a sergeant within the force have been advised they are now under investigation, the IOPC said.

Two police forces are under investigation over their contact with Calocane

The force previously said no-one was seriously hurt, and Calocane had reportedly been escorted off-site by security before police arrived.

The police watchdog said on Tuesday the investigation into Leicestershire Police’s contact with the killer prior to the deaths was at an "advanced stage".

Meanwhile, a separate investigation is examining what information was available to police about Calocane.

The IOPC says it is also looking at Nottinghamshire Police's decisions and actions relating to the triple killer between September 2021 and June 2023, as well as "subsequent events".

An investigation into the way Nottinghamshire Police has communicated with the families is also ongoing

This, the police watchdog said, would include the way the force informed the families of the death of their loved ones, and the support they put in place for them, including how information from the ongoing investigation was communicated to them.

Senior officers are also being probed to see whether relevant policies were followed, including issues around communications with the families and public over the handling of inappropriate WhatsApp messaging and potential sharing of information about the case.

All Nottinghamshire officers are currently being treated as witnesses, the IOPC added.

Valdo Calocane's sentencing heard he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the killings

Calocane was sentenced to detention in a high-security hospital after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

During his sentencing, a judge told Calocane that he would be detained in the high-security hospital "very probably for the rest of your life".

The families of the victims expressed their anger after the killer was given the hospital order.

At the time, Emma Webber, the mother of Mr Webber, said "true justice has not been served", adding the families had been "let down" by authorities including the police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

A review into Calocane's sentence, launched by the attorney general earlier this year, found the hospital order was not unduly lenient.