Mental health system is broken', says mother of Nottingham triple-killer

"The mother of the man who killed three people in an attack in Nottingham in 2023 has told an inquiry that the mental health system is broken and until there is a crisis no one listens to you. Valdo Calocane, who has paranoid schizophrenia, was sentenced to a suspended hospital order in January 2024 after killing students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and Ian Coates, a 65-year-old caretaker, on 13 June 2023, and attempting to kill three others."

"Celeste Calocane described repeatedly raising flags to medical staff but said no one was acting on it. The counsel to the inquiry, Rachel Langdale KC, said notes from May 2020 showed Ms Calocane had warned of her son's risk to others in his current mental state, after he had attempted to break into a neighbour's flat. Calocane was later admitted into hospital."

"During the first hospital admission, Ms Calocane's other son, Elias, compiled a dossier of information and sent it to Calocane's doctor. The document included violent and paranoid messages Calocane had sent to him, including one where he said he was thinking about red rum, which is murder spelled backwards. In another, Calocane told his brother he wanted to hurt permanently."

"Calocane's mother, who said she did not look at the document at the time, said doctors had not responded to the dossier so she thought it was not useful to them. She said she wanted Calocane to be diagnosed but doctors advised against it, and instead said Calocane was suffering with a psychotic picture. Calocane was discharged from hospital on 13 June 2020, against his mother's wishes."

Valdo Calocane, who has paranoid schizophrenia, killed three people in Nottingham in June 2023 and attempted to kill others. His mother, Celeste Calocane, gave evidence to an inquiry into the lead-up and aftermath, describing repeated failures in the mental health system. She said she raised concerns to medical staff multiple times, but no action was taken until a crisis occurred. Calocane was sectioned four times between 2020 and 2023. During a hospital admission in 2020, his brother compiled a dossier of violent and paranoid messages and sent it to Calocane’s doctor, but Celeste said doctors did not respond. She also said Calocane was discharged against her wishes and later crisis teams were contacted after further concerns.

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