Valdo Calocane was sentenced to a hospital order in January after admitting manslaughter
By Will Jefford
BBC News, Nottingham
The sentence of a man who stabbed three people to death in Nottingham was not unduly lenient, judges have ruled.
Valdo Calocane killed Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and 65-year-old Ian Coates on 13 June 2023.
He was given an indefinite hospital order after prosecutors accepted a plea of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Mr Webber’s mother, Emma Webber, said the Court of Appeal ruling came as “no surprise” to the victims’ families.
The attorney general referred the sentence in February, arguing it was unduly lenient.
Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar died at the scene of the attacks
Speaking at the hearing on Tuesday, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr concluded there was “no error” in the approach taken by Mr Justice Turner at Nottingham Crown Court in January.
She said Calocane was in the “grips of a severe psychotic episode” at the time.
Mr Justice Turner came to the “reasonable conclusion” that the aim of protecting the public would be best served by a hospital order, she added.
In a statement following the hearing, Mrs Webber said the ruling illustrated the need for “urgent reforms” in UK homicide law.
“Despite the fact that the attorney general herself feels that Valdo Calocane did not receive the appropriate sentence, today’s outcome proves how utterly flawed and under-resourced the criminal justice system in the UK is,” she said.
“So far, there have been no less than eight individual reports, reviews and investigations.
“We do not believe that there is any chance these can be cohesive enough to ensure a full and detailed outcome, and therefore call for a public inquiry.”
Watch: Judges deliver Nottingham attacks sentence ruling
Dr Sanjoy Kumar, father of Ms O’Malley-Kumar, said the attacks were “entirely preventable”.
“It
