- Published
A police force has said the Nottingham attacks were not "reasonably foreseeable or preventable", a public inquiry has heard.
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inquiry → publish → ?
Valdo Calocane - who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020 - stabbed to death Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates, and tried to kill three others, in a spate of attacks on 13 June 2023.
Nottinghamshire Police dealt with Calocane on 10 or 11 occasions between 2020 and 2022, but John Beggs KC - representing the force - said police "cannot manage dangerous paranoid schizophrenics".
At the Nottingham Inquiry, external - which has been examining the attacks - Beggs challenged the idea that any police mistakes before the killings were missed opportunities.
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mistakes → diagnose → killings
Calocane admitted three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and three counts of attempted murder.
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Calocane → admit → murder
Following Calocane's sentencing to a hospital order in January 2024, a series of failings by authorities emerged, including the police, which led to calls by the affected families for a statutory public inquiry.
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which → follow → inquiry
The statutory, judge-led, inquiry began in February this year, and laid bare the extent of failings in Calocane's care and his previous interactions with police, including the failure to execute an arrest warrant for Calocane, which was still outstanding at the time of the attacks.
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which → lead → attacks
On Wednesday, addressing the inquiry chair, retired senior judge Deborah Taylor KC, Beggs said: "We respectfully invite you to avoid the mindset that a mistake or an omission by an officer represents a missed opportunity to prevent this tragedy.
"
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mistake → address → tragedy
The appropriate question might be - missed opportunity to do what precisely?
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question → miss → what
The police cannot manage dangerous paranoid schizophrenics."
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police → manage → schizophrenics
Nottinghamshire Police has maintained throughout its evidence that if the warrant had been executed, it was unlikely to have prevented the attacks from happening.
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it → maintain → attacks
That view has been disputed by the bereaved families, including their legal representative, Tim Moloney KC, who previously said any attempt to suggest arresting Calocane would not have made a difference would be "cowardly and insulting".
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arresting → dispute → difference
Beggs said a "low-level to high-level community order, we suggest is the likely outcome".
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we → say → level
Some members of the bereaved families left the hearing room as Beggs continued.
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Beggs → bereave → room
The inquiry evidence previously revealed that between 2020 and 2023 - after Calocane had become unwell - he was involved in a number of incidents of violence and aggression, including breaking into his neighbours' homes, assaulting his housemates and attacking a police officer.
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he → reveal → officer
In May 2020, Calocane - who is being referred to throughout the inquiry as VC - broke into the flat of a woman, minutes after being released by police following an earlier incident.
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who → refer → incident
The woman, known to the inquiry as Feven, fell from a first-floor window in an attempt to escape, was left with a fractured spine, and required surgery.
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woman → know → surgery
On Tuesday, the inquiry heard Nottinghamshire Police had not disclosed the discovery of documents found in a bin at Calocane's address, which contained a list of explosives, until June this year.
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which → hear → June
On the documents, Calocane wrote bullet points on one page about explosives under the heading "thoughts", including TNT and nitrate fertiliser.
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Calocane → write → TNT
The inquiry heard they had not been made available by police to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) or to psychiatric experts.
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they → hear → experts
The inquiry heard further violent assaults by Calocane on colleagues at warehouses in Nottinghamshire were also not disclosed to the inquiry team until after the public hearings had taken place.
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hearings → hear → place
This included an assault on a colleague in a warehouse in Eastwood in 2021 and another in Normanton in February 2023.
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This → include → February
Continuing his evidence on Wednesday, Beggs said: "All of the interactions with the police and VC from my constabulary were borne of mental illness."
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All → continue → illness
He added there was "no escalation of VC's behaviour" and that the incidents of him breaking into neighbours' homes showed "no evidence of his intention to hurt anyone".
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him → add → anyone
However, when challenge by the chair, Beggs said VC hurting someone was a "possibility".
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hurting → say → someone
Beggs added: "Whilst shortcomings by individual Nottinghamshire officers in specific incidents have been identified and largely accepted by those officers, either in their statements or in their live evidence, the June attacks were not reasonably foreseeable or preventable on the information known to Nottinghamshire Police."
Beggs also addressed Nottinghamshire Police's response on the day of the attacks.
In evidence, the inquiry heard how there was a lack of communication between officers on the day of the attacks, and how the bereaved families waited hours for confirmation that their loved ones had been killed.
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ones → add → confirmation
The initial attacks on Barnaby and Grace were also assumed by the force incident manager at the time as a "robbery".
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attacks → assume → robbery
Ian's body, the inquiry heard, was left at the scene for about 15 hours.
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inquiry → hear → hours
A forensic tent had not arrived at the scene where Ian died to cover his body for more than two hours.
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Ian → arrive → hours
Beggs told the chair: "On 13 June, Nottinghamshire officers and staff attended the scenes of the carnage inflicted by VC quickly and they managed the victims and the evidential scenes well."
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they → tell → victims
Challenging Beggs, Taylor said: "Well just a moment there - what about the evidential scene with Ian Coates and what happened there?
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what → challenge → Coates
Would you say that was well managed?"
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that → say → ?
"Overall it was well-managed," Beggs replied.
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Beggs → manage → ?
Taylor said: "The fact that he was there for 12 to 15 hours for that?"
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he → say → that
Beggs went on to say the force was "not saying it was perfect", but added "no evidential degradation was suffered as a result of delay".
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degradation → go → delay
The inquiry also heard evidence of misconduct by police officers and staff in the aftermath of the attacks, including inappropriate access to the case and digital evidence.
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inquiry → hear → case
Two officers were also disciplined for sharing insensitive WhatsApp messages about the attacks.
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officers → discipline → attacks
The force acknowledged it failed to deliver information to the families in a "consistent, clear and timely manner" and failed in its management of misconduct.
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it → acknowledge → misconduct
Beggs added: "However, fair and objective analysis of the evidence shows that there was no attempt, however much the media may report it, by senior officers to cover up any matters from the bereaved or survivors of the public."
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media → add → public
He also highlighted the demand on the police and the mental healthcare system in his closing submissions.
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He → highlight → submissions
Beggs said when policing was "running hot all the time, the risks of things going wrong increases".
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things → say → ?
He added: "We respectfully observe that there is little point this inquiry making recommendations that create further demand on the services which struggled to cope with existing demand, and unless new money is injected into policing and/or mental health services, the current mental health crisis will continue."
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crisis → add → policing
…and 1 more, not listed.
