'Horror' at police staff who viewed Nottingham attacks material

Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar died in the attacks

A chief constable has said she feels "horror" at a special constable who viewed bodycam footage showing the aftermath of the Nottingham attacks.

Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates were killed on 13 June.

Nottinghamshire Police's Kate Meynell said the special constable had been sacked for viewing the footage.

She added eight others who had "low-level access" to material on the case had been given "professional standards interventions" for their behaviour.

Another staff member is set to face misconduct proceedings for looking into killer Valdo Calocane on force systems, police added.

Two police officers were also disciplined over a WhatsApp message, described as "crude and distasteful".

This included PC Matthew Gell, who shared the message with his wife and friend, and received a final written warning for accessing files on Calocane without authorisation.

And in an interview with the BBC, Ms Meynell said the force had referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over its handling of disciplinary procedures.

The force is already being investigated by the IOPC, along with Leicestershire Police, following the case, which saw Calocane given a hospital order after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable Kate Meynell said staff had been dealt with "swiftly"

Ms Meynell said: "This is one of the most brutal and horrific incidents we've seen here in Nottingham, in our history.

"There's lots of things I can't say. And that's not because I don't want to, it's because there's the ongoing reviews into what happened.

"There is another case coming up. This relates to the police staff member who we know has access to systems around the offender in this incident. This is ongoing, so I can't say much else. But there is no sharing of images... in relation to this individual."

She called the actions of the special constable, who viewed bodycam footage of officers and paramedics providing assistance to Mr Webber and Ms O'Malley-Kumar, "totally unacceptable".

"I'm not going to try and pretend that I feel the same horror as the families," Ms Meynell said. "But as chief constable, I do feel horror that some members of my staff have behaved in that way.

"That is why we have dealt with them swiftly."

A court heard Valdo Calocane was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the killings

Nottinghamshire Police's involvement in the case is also being investigated by the College of Policing, in a review commissioned by the police and crime commissioner Caroline Henry.

The case has also prompted a series of reviews into the NHS, police and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Webber's mother Emma told LBC: "We got a letter containing details because we've heard lots of varying versions of it.

"We've had an apology for us not being informed in advance, and then we had the detail of how seriously they take this, and officers are specially-trained, lessons will be learned.

"But that doesn't really help with the pain of knowing that people were viewing the bodycam footage of my son in the street and I will never forgive them for that."

A spokesperson for the IOPC said: "Our investigation follows complaints from the families of Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar, and Ian Coates about Nottinghamshire Police's handling of the murder investigation.

"Concerns were expressed about the force's communication with them over matters including an investigation into officers viewing details of the 13 June 2023 incident on police systems without any policing purpose.

"We will be speaking with the families soon about their allegations before we finalise the terms of reference for our inquiries."