Parents of Murdered Student Denounce Police 'Grotesque' Actions in Nottingham Attack Inquiry
The grieving parents of a nineteen-year-old student, brutally stabbed to death by paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane, have declared they will "never forgive" the police. This follows revelations that officers accessed graphic footage of the attacks and circulated WhatsApp messages describing their son's fatal injuries in disturbing detail.
"Disgusting and Grotesque" Messages Revealed
Emma Webber, mother of victim Barnaby Webber, told a central London inquiry that a WhatsApp message sent by a Nottinghamshire Police officer referencing her son's wounds was "disgusting and grotesque." The parents learned of the message only because the Daily Mail intended to publish an article about it the following day.
"Reading the content of that WhatsApp message, it was so destructive, so destroying, so awful," Mrs. Webber testified. "I don't mind the words being made public because the author of that message chose to refer to our children as being 'properly butchered' and 'innards out' and everything. That's disgusting and grotesque."
Attack Described as "The Stuff of Nightmares"
Valdo Calocane killed three people and attempted to murder three others in Nottingham on June 13, 2023. Barnaby Webber, an undergraduate, and his friend Grace O'Malley-Kumar, a first-year medical student, were fatally stabbed on Ilkeston Road in the early hours. Calocane then attacked and killed sixty-five-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates before using his van to run over three pedestrians.
Mrs. Webber emphasized that while gallows humour might be a coping mechanism for difficult jobs like policing or medicine, this incident crossed a clear line. She revealed officers had viewed footage of her son "lying on the road, having been brutally stabbed multiple times, fighting for his life and ultimately losing it." She added, "And that's wrong, that's so wrong, and I will never forgive them. And I hope that they're listening to part of this and rethinking their actions."
Father Accuses Police of Failing to Protect Privacy
David Webber, Barnaby's father, expressed deep disappointment in the police's handling of the case. He noted that while privacy was emphasized for the perpetrator, Valdo Calocane, the victims' privacy was disregarded.
"We were told all the way through this that, for VC, privacy was massively important," Mr. Webber said. "And it does seem to me that again, in this case, my son, who was the victim here, his privacy was not taken into consideration. Grace's privacy wasn't taken in consideration. Ian's wasn't taken into consideration. You're thinking 'this is wrong, you can't have it both ways'."
Despite having family members in the police force and maintaining respect for the institution, Mr. Webber stated, "However in this particular case, they have fallen very short of what I would expect someone who is there to effectively protect the public should be doing. In this case, they have let us down. And they have acted in a way that I think is abhorrent."
Emotional Testimony and Call for Accountability
In a poignant conclusion to their evidence, Emma Webber described her son's murderer as a "violent, pernicious and dangerous" individual who was allowed to roam the streets with weapons. "It is the stuff of nightmares and the true face of evil," she said. "Clearly a sick individual, that is never disputed. However it is one that knew what he was doing, he knew it was wrong and he did it anyway. A master manipulator and a ticking time bomb, a tragedy waiting to happen."
The inquiry into the Nottingham attacks continues, with the families' testimonies highlighting significant concerns over police conduct and victim treatment in high-profile criminal cases.
