Nottingham attacks: Witness still has nightmares after student killings

Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar were students at the University of Nottingham

A man who witnessed the killing of two students in the Nottingham attacks says he still has nightmares about the horrors of the fatal stabbings.

Richard - not his real name - called 999 when he saw Valdo Calocane fatally stab Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar from the window of his home.

Calocane, 32, also went on to kill Ian Coates, 65, in the attacks on 13 June.

"I couldn't believe what I was seeing, it was absolutely terrifying," said Richard.

The attacker is being detained at a high-security hospital after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Calocane was known to have serious mental health problems

Richard has recalled the "horrific" moment he was "shaking" as he reported the attack to police as it unfolded before his eyes.

"Seeing two young people being attacked and stabbed will never leave me," he told the BBC.

"[I was awoken by] blood-curdling screams. It's a student area but this sounded different. It was horrendous. I knew somebody was in trouble.

"It's something I would never wish on anyone. It was dreadful."

The students, both aged 19, were stabbed in Ilkeston Road at about 04:00 BST.

Ms O'Malley-Kumar and Mr Webber, who were studying medicine and history respectively, had been walking home when they were attacked.

Ian Coates was described as a "much-loved colleague"

Richard, who has started taking anti-depressants since, called police after he saw Calocane attack Mr Webber.

"As I was on the phone, who I now know as Grace, came over to the assailant and tried to stop him from attacking Barnaby before [Calocane] turned on her," he said.

"He callously and calmly just turned around after. He just walked off as if nothing had happened - that shook me."

Mr Coates, a school caretaker, was found dead in Magdala Road about an hour later, and Calocane then tried to kill three more pedestrians nearby using Mr Coates's van.

Richard said he "wishes" he could have done more to help, but police have since told him he would have only put his own life at risk.

"It's something I wish I'd never seen and I wish the situation had never happened," he said. "I have been having nightmares since.

"I wish I could have done more but that's hindsight. Since last June that's been playing on mind for the past nearly a year.

"Afterwards you think, I could've rushed downstairs, climbed out, spooked the assailant; I could have shouted, but I was just frozen.

"[Police] said to me that I could have been next if I tried to save anybody."

Following the attacks, Richard's 999 call with the emergency operator was shared with the press by Nottinghamshire Police without his knowledge or permission, he claimed.

The scene in Ilkeston Road, where Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar died

He said he "went into panic" when he heard a clip of the conversation in the media.

"I felt shocked and disappointed," he said. "The first time I heard [the call] I went into panic again. It took me back to the morning of the day last June.

"I was flabbergasted that they hadn't told me they wanted to use it."

A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire Police said: "We've been made aware the caller feels upset by hearing the 999 call again and we have apologised for any distress caused."

Although Calocane was first charged with three counts of murder, medical experts unanimously concluded that he was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.

They said this "impaired his ability to exercise self-control".

Following his sentencing on 25 January, relatives of loved ones have expressed anger that Calocane was given a hospital order.

Mr Webber's mother has said "true justice has not been served" - a sentiment Richard agrees with.

Reviews into how multiple authorities handled the case are under way.