Nottingham Attack Survivor Warns of Future Deaths Without Mental Health Reform
A survivor of the Nottingham attacks, who continues to endure constant "nightmare" pain, has issued a chilling warning that "somebody else will die soon" unless urgent changes are made to mental health services.
Speaking Out Ahead of Public Inquiry
Wayne Birkett, 62, said he was speaking out because he wants his voice to be heard ahead of the public inquiry into the killing spree that shocked the nation. Paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane killed Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, in June 2023.
During his deadly rampage, Calocane also attempted to kill three more people in Nottingham. One of those survivors, Wayne, who was placed in a coma after the attack, told Sky News how his memory was almost completely wiped out.
Life-Altering Injuries and Recovery
The former forklift driver was catapulted into the air and left in a coma when he was hit from behind by the attacker who had stolen a van from Mr Coates. He says he has been living in "nightmare" pain ever since.
"It's like being born again," Wayne explained about his recovery process. "I've had to learn how to read and write, know what a ladybird is, there's lots of things I had to learn, how to talk to people, how to use a phone."
Criticism of Mental Health Services
Wayne expressed deep concern about mental health services, stating: "I think something needs to be done because somebody else is going to die soon, very soon."
When asked why mental health services had let victims down, he responded: "By letting him out and letting him escape. They have let us down. More money needs to be spent on it."
"I'm saying someone has to take the blame for this man coming out and killing those poor students and poor Ian Coates and then trying to kill me and Sharon... someone has to take the blame for it," he added.
CQC Report Findings
Calocane admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder and was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024, which prompted fury that he hadn't been convicted of murder.
Wayne says he should have been told about a report into the NHS mental health services that cared for the killer. A Care Quality Commission inspection of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust found the trust's mental health services "were not always humane, dignified or gave high quality care" when treating patients.
The trust cared for Calocane between May 2020 and September 2022. Survivor Wayne and his lawyer Greg Almond, who also represents attack survivor Sharon Miller, said the victims were not included in the CQC inspection process.
He said they only found out about the report through the press a day before it was published.
Exclusion from Inspection Process
The CQC carried out 39 inspections at the trust between May 2024 and August 2025, before a trust-wide review of its leadership took place last September. The CQC report, published earlier in January, said the trust was found to have breached regulations about how it was managed and asked it to provide an action plan.
Seven of the trust's 18 services were rated as requiring improvement, including five mental health services.
Of the report, Wayne said: "I don't know why I wasn't involved or I wasn't warned about this before. That's all I've got to say about that, really, because we should have been told, we should have been warned."
He added it was "quite embarrassing" not knowing the inspection was taking place.
Legal Representation and Government Meeting
His lawyer Mr Almond said: "It's shocking that we didn't receive early notice of the report. Clearly this affected my clients very acutely, and they should have been made aware of it, they should have been notified that this was coming out. And we shouldn't have been advised about it from the press."
The survivor and his lawyer, who will meet Health Secretary Wes Streeting on February 5 ahead of a public inquiry into the attacks, are calling for victims to be included and for their voices to be heard.
Calls for Systemic Change
Speaking of the attacker, Wayne said: "These people shouldn't be let on the streets and the NHS has got to improve. Hopefully the man (Wes Streeting) can help. Hopefully."
His lawyer Mr Almond said: "I expect him to listen to our concerns. I expect him to set out a plan as to what the government intends to do. It's clearly something that is a priority."
"We know that there are many things that he has to deal with, and he's obviously very, very busy, but this is crucial to his role and to what he's there for, which is to protect the public and to make sure that the NHS is safe as a priority, really," Mr Almond continued.
Upcoming Public Inquiry
The public inquiry into the attacks, chaired by senior retired judge Deborah Taylor, is expected to start on February 23rd and aims to report back within two years.
Mr Almond said: "We've got a real hope that the inquiry will deliver the answers that we need. We've obviously got an experienced legal team, as have the families, and we, along with them, are going to leave no stone unturned to get to the bottom of these issues."
Reflecting on the CQC report's findings, Mr Almond added: "The people of Nottingham need to be clear that their NHS is safe and that they're safe to go about their daily business in Nottingham without fear of any sort of further occurrence of something like this happening again."
CQC Response
The Care Quality Commission's interim director of mental health, Jenny Wilkes, said: "We continue to extend our deepest sympathies to everyone affected by the devastating attack that took place in Nottingham in June 2023."
"The report published on January 14 is on our findings from a trust-wide well-led review in September 2025 to assess the leadership at Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust. This follows a programme of assessments recommended by our review of the trust published in 2024," she explained.
"Since publishing this report, we have made contact with lawyers for survivors of the attack and are arranging to meet with them," Ms Wilkes concluded.
