Triple killer’s list of explosives not disclosed by police to Nottingham inquiry

Read the original at Evening Standard ↗
Cite

Robinson, S. (2026, September 8). Triple killer’s list of explosives not disclosed by police to Nottingham inquiry. Evening Standard. https://www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/nottingham-nottinghamshire-police-manchester-arena-nottinghamshire-theatre-royal-b1296183.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Evening Standard · collected 2026-09-08 · by Sophie Robinson

Quick Summary

A public inquiry into the stabbings of three victims by Valdo Calocane on June 13, 2023, has revealed that police failed to disclose several important documents to the inquiry team. The documents include a list of explosives created by Calocane, which were not identified or taken into account until July this year. According to the inquiry's chair, some evidence had emerged during the break that should have been disclosed earlier, and counsel to the inquiry said it was an "oversight" by Nottinghamshire Police. The inquiry heard that police failed to share information about Calocane's online searches for large venues in Nottingham and Manchester Arena, as well as his violent behavior on camera.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-08, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Valdo Calocane, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020, carried out a series of attacks on June 13, 2023, killing Barnaby Webber (19) and Grace O'Malley-Kumar (19), as well as Ian Coates (65), and attempting to kill three others. A public inquiry into the attacks has been examining the events leading up to the killings. It was revealed that Nottinghamshire Police found documents created by Calocane in a bin at his former property, which included a list of explosives, including TNT and nitrate fertiliser, but this information was not shared with the inquiry team until July of this year. The police have argued that they cannot manage individuals with paranoid schizophrenia like Calocane, and that the attacks were not reasonably foreseeable or preventable based on the information they had at the time. However, the inquiry has highlighted a number of failings by authorities, including the police, which have led to calls for greater accountability and improvements in mental health care.

Written for “Triple Killer Inquiries” on 2026-10-25, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Triple Killer Inquiries
Crime & Law · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
BBC News
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 10% hedged 4 of 41 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles describe the same incident of the stabbing attacks by Valdo Calocane on June 13, 2023 in Nottingham.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
21
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 21 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
65/100
Evening Standard's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-08 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Evening Standard · 6911 article(s) · 56 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 56 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Sophie Robinson
5 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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🔮 Police said the cordon in Angel Row has been lifted, but officers will remain in the area to provide reassurance to members of the public and local businesses.
🔮 The Queen was welcomed by Lord William Burlington, the chairman of The Chatsworth House Trust, who said it was “a huge thrill” to collaborate with The Queen’s Reading Room for a second consecutive year.
🔮 He added that “no-one asked VC why he was searching for explosives and large venues because they couldn’t”, referencing the police’s failure to share the information.
Also by Sophie Robinson
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

CPS Nottingham Nottinghamshire Nottinghamshire Police the Crown Prosecution Service

Subjects

Calocane PERSON · 7× Nottingham GPE · 4× Langdale GPE · 3× Moloney PERSON · 2× Nottinghamshire Police ORG · 2× Barnaby Webber PERSON · 1× Deborah Taylor PERSON · 1× Grace O’Malley-Kumar PERSON · 1× Ian Coates PERSON · 1× Rachel Langdale KC PERSON · 1×

Narrative

Mr Moloney said it was a “significant failure” that psychiatrist Professor Nigel Blackwood, who assessed the killer before his sentencing, was not shown videos of Calocane’s previous violent behaviour, including an assault on a police officer.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-08
🔮 He added that “no-one asked VC why he was searching for explosives and large venues because they couldn’t”, referencing the police’s failure to share the information.

Claims (21 extracted, 0 hedged)

The former mechanical engineering student also searched online for large venues in Nottingham and made a note about the Manchester Arena, a public inquiry into his stabbings heard for the first time on Tuesday. asserted
student → search → Tuesday
Calocane killed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, in Nottingham on June 13 2023 before he tried to murder three pedestrians with a van. asserted
he → kill → van
The inquiry, which heard evidence from late February to early June, heard the first closing submissions from core participants on Tuesday. asserted
which → hear → Tuesday
At the start of the closing arguments, chair of the inquiry Her Honour Deborah Taylor said: “Over the break since we were last here, some evidence has emerged which ought to have been identified by core participants and disclosed earlier.” asserted
which → say → participants
Counsel to the inquiry Rachel Langdale KC said Nottinghamshire Police found documents created by Calocane in a bin at his former property in Burford Road in Nottingham, which was not provided to the inquiry team until July of this year. asserted
which → say → year
He wrote bullet points on one page about explosives under the heading “thoughts”, including TNT and nitrate fertiliser. asserted
He → write → TNT
Ms Langdale said: “This piece of paper listing thoughts about a number of explosives was not identified or taken into account at the time.” asserted
piece → say → time
She added that it had not been made available by police to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or to psychiatric experts. asserted
it → add → experts
In his closing speech, Tim Moloney KC, who represents the bereaved families, said a note made by Calocane on one of the sheets of paper appears to say “Manchester Arena”. asserted
note → represent → Arena
He also said the killer searched online for large venues in Nottingham, and had bookmarks on his web browser for the Albert Hall Conference Centre in the city and the Theatre Royal and Royal Concert Hall. asserted
killer → say → city
Mr Moloney told the hearing: “There was a failure to investigate VC’s (Valdo Calocane’s) historical behaviour and actions.” asserted
Moloney → tell → behaviour
He added that “no-one asked VC why he was searching for explosives and large venues because they couldn’t”, referencing the police’s failure to share the information. asserted
they → add → information
Mr Moloney said it was a “significant failure” that psychiatrist Professor Nigel Blackwood, who assessed the killer before his sentencing, was not shown videos of Calocane’s previous violent behaviour, including an assault on a police officer. asserted
who → say → officer
The inquiry also heard that further violent assaults by Calocane on colleagues at warehouses were not disclosed to the inquiry team until after the evidence had finished. asserted
evidence → hear → team
Footage of an attack in February 2023, where Calocane can be seen punching a colleague, was shown to the inquiry for the first time on Tuesday. asserted
Calocane → see → Tuesday
She said it contained notebooks that were assessed by police as not having “evidential value” to the investigation and were not disclosed to the inquiry until June this year. asserted
that → say → June
Ms Langdale said: “This was an oversight by Nottinghamshire Police.” asserted
This → say → Police
She said there were three notebooks in the bag, which included a note written by Calocane saying he was a god and “was a tree that guards the key between heaven and hell”. asserted
that → say → heaven
Ms Langdale said now retired Nottinghamshire Police Detective Superintendent Leigh Sanders said “nothing in the notebooks would have changed his decisions nor, in his opinion, would the contents have affected the investigation or prosecution”. asserted
contents → say → investigation
She said it was “regrettable” that the “more rational contents in the notebooks was not explored in oral evidence … because the inquiry team was not in possession of this material”. asserted
team → say → material
The closing submissions continue. asserted
submissions → continue → ?
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