Nottingham

NOTTINGHAM

The killings and attempted killings in Nottingham in 2023 are going to be considered for years as seminal events in mental health care in the UK and to some extent, of failings in policing and criminal justice.

This is a page of my posts and other resources, relevant to the tragedies – you can watch a BBC iPlayer programme which summarises the awful events and hearing from the families of those victims who were killed in the attacks.

**NEW**

There is now a website for the Nottingham Inquiry – a full public inquiry under Her Honour Deborah Taylor

The full terms of reference for the public inquiry were published on 22nd May 2025 –

HM Government’s press release.

I have some personal as well as professional reasons for being interested in these events. Two of the victims who died – Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar – were University of Nottingham students, as is my son at the point of publishing this page. He completed his final school exam on this awful day, already dreaming of going to Nottingham because he felt his exams had gone well and that he stood every chance of making the grades – and he did.

When we took him to Nottingham, he was placed in a hall of residence just off the Ilkeston Road, less than five minutes walk from where the awful events began to unfold when Barnaby and Grace were attacked by Valdo Calocane, a University of Nottingham graduate.

I couldn’t avoid thinking about this and taking a walk up the Ilkeston Road on one of our visits to him.

BLOG POSTS

  • Nottingham – a background post on the awful events.

SENTENCING

CAMPAIGNING FOR JUSTICE

  • Nottingham Reviews – a list of various reviews and inquiries launched in the aftermath of sentencing.
  • Nottingham Appeal – sets out the considerations before the Court of Criminal Appeal after the unduly lenient review.
  • Nottingham Panorama – link to the BBC iPlayer episode (if still live) and commentary o the same.
  • Complex Contact History – a detailed timeline of Valdo Calocane’s mental health and police contacts, from the first in May 2020, to the tragedies in June 2023.
  • Thinking Some Thoughts – just some of my own reflections on things and the question of prosecuting mentally disordered offenders for low level crimes, before they have escalated to the gravity of homicides or attempted homicides.
  • Unduly Lenient – post after it was made known the Attorney General would appeal the sentence in Calocane’s case.
  • Nottingham Appeal – sets out the considerations before the Court of Criminal Appeal after the unduly lenient review.

INVESTIGATION AND INQUIRY UPDATES

  • Nottingham Update No 1 – update after the report of the CPS inspectorate about their decision to accept a plea to manslaughter and not proceed with a murder trial.
  • Nottingham Update No 3 – the report into Leicestershire Police’s investigation of alleged assaults by Calocane.

OTHER MATERIALS

  • Mohammed Abbkr – a Birmingham trial which had to consider whether to impose a restricted hospital order or hybrid order under the Mental Health Act.  The post sets out how judges are expected to think through those decisions, as the judge was required to do in Valdo Calocane’s sentencing.

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, 2025.
I am not a police officer.

I try to keep this blog up to date, but inevitably over time, amendments to the law as well as court rulings and other findings from inquests and complaints processes mean it is difficult to ensure all the articles and pages remain current.  Please ensure you check all legal issues in particular and take appropriate professional advice where necessary.

Government legislation website – www.legislation.gov.uk