Mental health professionals who evaluated Valdo Calocane prior to his deadly attack in Nottingham will be questioned during proceedings scheduled for Monday, April 27. The Nottingham Inquiry will hear testimony from three healthcare workers involved in treating Calocane, who suffers from paranoid schizophrenia. In June 2023, Calocane fatally stabbed Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber, and Ian Coates, then attempted to run down Wayne Birkett, Sharon Miller, and Marcin Gawronski.
The judge-led public investigation aims to examine how missed opportunities and systemic failures contributed to the violent day. Chair Her Honour Deborah Taylor will receive testimony from Nottingham City Council representatives Geoff Culpin and Busayo Ajewole, along with Dr Omar Manzar from Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.
Culpin, serving as an Approved Mental Health Professional, joined forces with Dr Manzar and Dr Faizal Seedat—who provided testimony to the inquiry last week—to conduct a mental health evaluation of Calocane on the afternoon of July 14, 2020. This assessment occurred one day after police detained Calocane for first entering a property without authorization, then later breaking into a flat at Brook Court in Radford and committing an assault.
Ajewole, described in inquiry documents as a clinical lead nurse, had updated Calocane’s risk and safety assessment on July 14, 2020, following these incidents.
Dr Manzar had also been present at Calocane’s residence during an incident where Calocane assaulted Police Constable Barnaby Pritchard. This occurred on September 3, 2021, when officers were dispatched to help medical staff restrain him. Additionally, Dr Manzar participated in another mental health assessment of Calocane in January 2022, following an assault on his flatmate Christopher at Raleigh Park in Lenton.
The assessment team acknowledged poor engagement and a recent confrontation but did not recommend involuntary detention. Despite Calocane’s background and events from the preceding night, evaluators determined there were no immediate threats to himself or others.
Live coverage from the Nottingham Inquiry hearing room will be provided.