We now know a lot about the mental health and criminal justice history of Valdo Calocane who has pleaded guilty to offences of manslaughter and attempted murder following a series of terrible attacks in the middle of 2023. It was extensively explained at the sentencing hearing which began today at Nottingham Crown Court and will continue tomorrow. The final sentencing outcome is due on Thursday, I’m told.
We know his brother, Elias Calocane, described to the police investigation his view of the defendant’s mental health and it was all reported at length in the sentencing hearing by prosecution counsel. It appears to involve a number of arrests, hospital admissions and points where he disengaged from mental health services. Valdo Calocane had been a student at the University of Nottingham, graduating in June 2022 with a degree in mechanical engineering. It was during his degree that Elias became aware his brother was suffering from mental health problems, believing that he was being spied on by his housemates and by MI6 and that his family was under threat.
Elias believed his brother was not taking prescribed medication and that his mental health was declining, including auditory hallucinations telling him his family members would die.
- May 2020 — Mr Calocane presented at A&E believing he was having a heart attack.
- He returned to his apartment 13 hours later and knocked a door down to gain entrance to another apartment in the block and was arrested for causing criminal damage.
- Whilst in police custody, an assessment under the Mental Health Act 1983 (MHA) was undertaken by Liaison and Diversion services and they concluded he was psychotic but the risk to others was low.
- He was referred in the first instance to the crisis team for review at home, and then released without charge.
- I admit to being interested in knowing why there is no mention of a charge or caution for a man who was arrested for breaking down someone’s door if he was not thought seriously ill to justify him being ‘sectioned’ under the MHA.
- Upon his return to his apartment, an hour later, he broke down another door and was arrested again for causing criminal damage
- Following re-assessment under the MHA he was ‘sectioned’ admitted to an inpatient psychiatric ward on May 25, 2020 where he remained for treatment (anti-psychotics) and discharged on June 17th to the Crisis Team.
- He was advised to take the medication for a minimum of six to nine months and to seek medical advice if he wished to stop taking it.
- 14th – 31st July 2020 — he was readmitted to Highbury Hospital under section 3 of the MHA following a third incident where he forced his way into a flat.
- He had stopped taking his anti-psychotic medication and restarted and increased.
- Thereafter he was managed in the community by the Early Intervention in Psychosis team – his medication was further increased twice.
- 10th August 2021 — none of this was disclosed to NHS services during a home visit and it’s now clear the defendant was actively concealing psychotic symptoms.
- He stated he was happy to continue taking medication but was not compliant with it.
- 31st August 2021 — he stopped taking medication and had no intention of continuing treatment.
- He set out his view that he had never been mentally unwell but that the voices he experienced were the creation of mental health services.
- 3rd September 2021 — He subsequently evaded contact with the community team and a warrant was issued under section 135(1) MHA was to gain entry to his property so he could be assessed.
- The MHA warrant was executed and he assaulted a police officer – a bag of unused medication dating from February 2021 was discovered in his flat.
- He was then admitted under section 2 of the MHA to hospital during September and October 2021 and thereafter, had limited contact with his community team, appearing confrontational and missing appointments.
- Mid-January 2022 — the defendant was involved in an altercation with a flatmate. An assessment under the MHA concluded that he could continue to be treated in the community, however he did not engage adequately with the Home Treatment Team.
- 27th January 2022 — a further MHA assessment was conducted at his flat and he was admitted as an inpatient where he was treated for three weeks. He was discharged on February 24, 2022, to the care of the City South team.
- 14th March 2022 — the defendant was reviewed in an outpatient clinic, on which occasion he presented well. Thereafter he attended the community service intermittently to collect his medication until early July 2022, but was noted to appear unkempt and to look suspicious.
- Mid-July 2022 — he was prompted to collect his medication, but claimed – falsely, it appears – that he was not in the country.
- 4th August 2022 — he was not at home on a visit to his discharge address, and the resident stated that no one of that name lived there.
- August 2022 — he was summonsed to court accused of assaulting a police officer in September 2021 when the officer had been involved in transporting him to hospital for mental health assessment under the 135(1) warrant.
- 22nd September 2022 — he failed to appear in court and a Magistrate’s warrant was issued for his arrest. This remained unenforced at the point of the attacks mine months later.
- May 2023 — it was alleged he assaulted two colleagues at a warehouse job in Leicestershire.
I presume there will now be an NHS England directed investigation in to the treatment and care received by Mr Calocane, given we now know he has gone on to commit a triple homicide and attempted to kill several others. I also admit to wondering whether there would be any aspect of police scrutiny around this, given his repeated contact with and diversion from criminal justice after being arrested several times for various offences, including offences of violence and repeated break-ins at people’s homes.
Just by way of managing expectations about timescales: a 2017 offence of similar magnitude (a triple killing) reported their findings in the middle of 2023. It’s quite conceivable any examination of these events may not report until the end of this decade, which isn’t really in anyone’s interests but there it is.
Winner of the President’s Medal, the Royal College of Psychiatrists.
Winner of the Mind Digital Media Award
All opinions expressed are my own – they do not represent the views of any organisation. (c) Michael Brown, 2024
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Government legislation website – www.legislation.gov.uk
Mental Health Cop 