Man due in court over attacks in Nottingham that left three people dead
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A man who admitted killing three people and pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of three more in a spate of attacks in Nottingham is due to appear in court.
Valdo Calocane, 32, pleaded not guilty to murdering university students Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, on June 13 last year – but admitted their manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility at a hearing at Nottingham Crown Court on November 28.
He also pleaded guilty to the attempted murders of three pedestrians after hitting them with a van he had allegedly stolen from Mr Coates.
Judge Mr Justice Turner adjourned the case until January while the prosecution decided whether Calocane’s pleas were acceptable or not.
The case will continue at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday morning.
Defence barrister Peter Joyce KC earlier said the defendant “does not dispute the physical facts of the prosecution’s case”, but added that he had been suffering from “extreme” mental illness at the time.
Calocane is accused of fatally knifing Ms O’Malley-Kumar and Mr Webber, who were studying medicine and history at the University of Nottingham respectively, on Ilkeston Road at around 4am on June 13.
Mr Coates was then found dead in Magdala Road around an hour later.
The defendant is then alleged to have used Mr Coates’ van to drive at three pedestrians, Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller, in Milton Street and South Sherwood Street. They all survived.
Thousands of people attended vigils for the victims both at the University of Nottingham and in the city centre in the wake of the attacks.
Calocane was previously a student at the university, although Nottinghamshire Police said at the time that they did not believe this was connected to the incident.
Mr Webber, from Taunton in Somerset, was a keen cricketer and “an extraordinary ‘ordinary’ person”, his family said.
Ms O’Malley-Kumar, a hockey player from Woodford in London, was described by her family as being “loved endlessly by all” and “resilient and wise beyond her years”.
Two of Mr Coates’ sons said his death had “rocked everyone’s world”, adding: “Nobody deserves this but he definitely didn’t.”
