Image source, Nottinghamshire Police

Valdo Calocane fatally stabbed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, on the streets of Nottingham on the morning of 13 June.

At a hearing on 28 November, Calocane - also known as Adam Mendes - denied murder but admitted three counts of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility.

The 32-year-old also admitted the attempted murder of three others.

Calocane is being sentenced today at Nottingham Crown Court.

But what do we know about the perpetrator of the Nottingham attacks? Read on here.

The families of Ian Coates, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber have started to arrive at Nottingham Crown Court.

Relatives of the three victims will find out today what sentence the judge will impose on Valdo Calocane.

Image source, PA Media

As we wait for the sentencing of Valdo Calocane, here’s what Nottingham Crown Court has been told in the last few days:

• In his first attack on 13 June, Calocane killed students Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber
• O’Malley-Kumar was described in court as a hero who showed “incredible bravery” attempting to fight off her killer
• Calocane turned on her as he was attacking Barnaby Webber, who was stabbed several times and had fallen to the floor
• O’Malley-Kumar had pushed Calocane into the road while trying to protect her friend, before he turned his attention to her and was "as uncompromisingly brutal in his assault”
• Following a failed attempt to gain entry to a nearby residential hostel, he then encountered and killed caretaker Ian Coates
• After stealing Coates’s van, Calocane used it to injure three pedestrians – all of whom were described as being lucky to survive, with one suffering serious head trauma
• Calocane was suffering "serious" mental illness at the time, the hearing was also told
• He had a history of mental illness, having been detained four times under mental health laws before the attacks
• The court heard Calocane believed the MI6 intelligence service was spying on him
• He had no previous convictions or cautions, despite being involved in several incidents of criminal damage and trying to force his way into flats
• It also emerged that Calocane was involved in an alleged assault on two colleagues while working in a warehouse a month before
• He was described as having regularly declined to take prescribed medication

As we draw closer to sentencing, members of the media have gathered outside Nottingham Crown Court awaiting the arrival of the victims' families.

George Torr
BBC East Midlands

The wider impact of Valdo Calocane's attacks on the city of Nottingham - especially its large student population - has been devastating.

The harrowing events of 13 June 2023 are often referred to as Nottingham's darkest day - they are not wrong.

But from the sheer horror that emerged, the city came together - united in grief.

This unity was displayed at countless vigils and remembrance events both in the city centre and at the University of Nottingham.

Thousands of people heard a powerful message from Barnaby Webber's mum Emma. In front of crowds packed into one event in Market Square, she urged people to "hold no hate".

At the same event, Grace O'Malley-Kumar's mother, Sinead, urged the crowd to be "kind to one another".

"Look after each other, don't have hate in your hearts. Say prayers for my baby girl," she said.

Image source, PA

Knife crime in 2023 was up by 5% compared to the year ending September 2022, according to newly-released data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Police recorded a total of 48,716 offences involving knives or similar sharp instruments in the year ending September 2023.

This however is 5% lower than pre-pandemic levels for the year ending March 2020.

The figures exclude those from Devon and Cornwall and Greater Manchester Police.

Read the ONS's full report here, external.

Image source, Office for National Statistics

Image source, Getty Images

We need to address "the reasons why young people are using knives", says actor and anti-knife crime campaigner, Idris Elba.

He tells BBC Breakfast: "The truth is... there are more kids carrying knives out of protection and fear than they are as perpetrators."

Elba is asked about victim Grace O'Malley-Kumar's mother's suggestion that there should be mandatory prison sentences for those carrying knives.

A deterrent, to show young people "if you carry a knife, you will pay the penalties" is an "important step", the actor says.

But, he says that there need to be "gradients" around that: "There are some kids that have been stabbed before and carry again a knife because they don’t want to get stabbed.

"There are some kids that carry a knife because they’ve seen someone else get stabbed.

"Does that kid necessarily need to go to jail? As a deterrent, I think it's a really important step to consider… [but] it's not one size fits all unfortunately."

• You can read more on this story here.

Grace O'Malley-Kumar's mother has called for mandatory prison terms for carrying a knife.

Grace, a student, was stabbed to death in Nottingham on 13 June last year.

In an emotional interview with the BBC's Breakfast, Dr Sinead O'Malley said there needed to be a "massive deterrent" against using knives and called on the government to "urgently" examine the issue.

You can read her comments in full here.

Image source, PA

Image source, Reuters

Policing minister Chris Philp says the government is introducing a new law in Parliament to ban zombie-style knives.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Philp says that it will become an even more serious offence “if someone carries a knife with intent to use it”.

The current law defines these knives as having a cutting or serrated edge - as well as threatening images or words on the blade or handle. The change means the ban would now also cover knives with no such wording or imagery.

This means it will illegal to manufacture, to import, to sell or to possess knives with this particular design.

Certain blades however – such as “regular” swords – will probably not be included, he says. "The ban we're introducing in Parliament today specifies the design of the bladed article... some swords could fall into that definition.”

“A regular sword, like the sort a historic soldier might carry, would probably not qualify,” he adds.

When challenged why this legislation has taken so long to be introduced, Philp says the government has successively tightened the law, and asserts he has “personally taken action as soon as it came to my attention”.

The knife used by Valdo Calocane was described in court as "a double-edged fighting knife".

Read more about this attempt to ban the zombie-style knives here.

The family of Barnaby Webber, a history student at the University of Nottingham who was from Taunton in Somerset, described their "complete devastation" at his death during the trial in November, saying he was a "beautiful, brilliant, bright young man, with everything in life to look forward to".

At the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Barnaby Webber's younger brother described his sibling as a "hero".

"When I was younger, he was always the person I went to if I was scared of something or had a tough decision to make,” Charlie Webber said in a video statement.

"When I first learned what happened I wanted to set the world on fire, I was so angry at everyone. He was my hero."

He added: "On 13 June 2023, you [Calocane] didn't just take my brother from me and from those around me, but you also took a large part of me from myself."

Image source, PA

Image source, PA Media

Grace O'Malley-Kumar "heroically" tried to protect her friend when he was stabbed as they walked home from a night out in Nottingham.

O'Malley-Kumar, 19, fought to defend Barnaby Webber from Valdo Calocane when he attacked them.

Addressing Calocane in court earlier this week, her father Dr Sanjoy Kumar praised his daughter as a hero.

“She would never leave a friend in adversity. It was not in her nature. She heroically and valiantly fought you. Like a hero she put herself in harm's way,” he said.

"But unfortunately because of the weapon you carried she stood no chance. You showed yourself to be a cold, cowardly and calculating killer. You casually walked away, leaving my child lying in the street."

Her brother James told the court she “was the best" to him.

“Since everything happened, I've been lost without her. I've not just lost my older sister, but my best friend - someone I'd go to about everything. I was so proud, I would always speak about her,” he said.

"It's a joy to be able to say she's my older sister, it's a privilege. Now my job is to do my best to make her proud."

Ian Coates’ family has expressed disappointment with the way the case concluded.

His son Lee said: "The way this case has gone shows the flaws in the justice system because the evidence is there that it was calculated, pre-meditated and therefore should it be murder."

Nottinghamshire Police's Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin said the force "should have done more to arrest" Calocane prior to the killings.

Prosecutors accepted a plea of manslaughter from Calocane on the basis of diminished responsibility after he denied murder charges in November.

"I think it is disgusting," Lee Coates said. "He has to spend the rest of his life behind bars, otherwise we have been let down by this country and the judicial system."

"The guy is a coward. He honed in on weak and vulnerable young students, weak and vulnerable old people."

Grace O'Malley-Kumar, 19, from Woodford in north-east London, was studying medicine at the University of Nottingham. She had represented Essex in cricket as a teenager, and had also played for England Hockey.

Image source, Family handout

Barnaby Webber, 19, a history student, from Taunton in Somerset, was also studying at the University of Nottingham. He was also a keen cricketer, and his club, Bishops Hull, organised a charity match in his memory. His family described him as a “lovely soul” following his death.

Image source, Family handout

Ian Coates, 65, was a caretaker at the Huntingdon Academy in Nottingham and was four months from retirement at the time of his death. He was a life-long Nottingham Forest Football Club supporter but also a leading member of the Lake Snakes Angling Club, whose members paid tribute to him.

Image source, Lake Snakes Angling Club

Image source, PA Media

Students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar were fatally stabbed by Valdo Calocane in Ilkeston Road just after 04:00 BST on 13 June last year.

They had been walking home after an end-of-term night out when Calocane approached, pulled a knife out of his bag and attacked them, the prosecution said.

Calocane then made his way to Magdala Road, where he killed Ian Coates at around 05:15 and stole his van. He drove the van to Milton Street, where he hit Wayne Birkett, who was crossing the road.

Calocane then drove in a loop and was seen by a marked police car at about 05:29. Officers activated their lights but Calocane accelerated away and then knocked down Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller, who were walking to work across a pedestrian central reservation at a junction off Market Street.

Birkett, Gawronski and Miller suffered injuries but survived the incident. Calocane was arrested after being Tasered around five minutes after. He produced a knife when the van was stopped and boxed in by police vehicles.

The son of Ian Coates, one of three people stabbed to death in Nottingham, has told the BBC his father's killer was the "most evil person on this planet".

James Coates described Valdo Calocane as cold, calculated and brutal.

"He went out and brutally massacred three people then attempted to kill another three."

Coates, 65, was driving his van in Magdala Road when he was repeatedly stabbed, suffering wounds to his abdomen and chest. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

He worked as a caretaker at the Huntingdon Academy in Nottingham and was four months from retirement when the attack took place.

Image source, Family handout

Image source, Credit: Family handouts

The killer of Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar is to be sentenced at Nottingham Crown Court today.

Valdo Calocane, 32, pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter by diminished responsibility and also to a further three counts of attempted murder against three others.

Webber and O’Malley-Kumar, both students, as well as Coates, a caretaker, were fatally stabbed in separate attacks in Nottingham on 13 June last year.

Calocane later knocked down pedestrians Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller while in the city centre.

We’ll be bringing you the latest developments ahead of the court hearing later, so stay with us.