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 by the local model on 2026-09-08,
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same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Nottingham Police failed to disclose a list of explosives found on the property of Hamza Calocane, a triple killer who stabbed Barnaby Webber (19) and Grace O'Malley-Kumar (19) to death, as well as school caretaker Ian Coates (65), in Nottingham on June 13, 2023. The list included items such as TNT and nitrate fertiliser. A public inquiry into the stabbings heard that the police also failed to share information about Calocane's online searches for large venues, including the Manchester Arena. This omission was described by one participant as a "significant failure".
Written for “Nottingham Murder Investigation” on 2026-09-08,
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No political leaning scored for article 7036 · logged 2026-09-08
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.
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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.
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he → kill → van
The inquiry, which heard evidence from late February to early June, heard the first closing submissions from core participants on Tuesday.
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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.”
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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.
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which → say → year
He wrote bullet points on one page about explosives under the heading “thoughts”, including TNT and nitrate fertiliser.
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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.”
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piece → say → time
She added that it had not been made available by police to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or to psychiatric experts.
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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”.
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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.
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killer → say → city
Mr Moloney told the hearing: “There was a failure to investigate VC’s (Valdo Calocane’s) historical behaviour and actions.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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that → say → June
Ms Langdale said: “This was an oversight by Nottinghamshire Police.”
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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”.
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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”.
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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”.
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team → say → material
The closing submissions continue.
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submissions → continue → ?
