Bold statement up front: a killer in Nottingham reportedly tried to surrender to MI5 two years before a deadly 2023 knife attack, raising questions about how warnings were handled and when intervention could have happened.
A man identified as Valdo Calocane, 34, killed three people during a June 13, 2023 stabbing spree in Nottingham: Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19, and Ian Coates, 65. He later admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and received an indefinite detention order in a high-security hospital.
During a London inquiry, it emerged that in May 2021 Calocane attempted to hand himself in at MI5’s Thames House headquarters, seeking arrest and police contact. PC Graham Foster, who encountered Calocane after Calocane pressed the intercom and spoke with a security guard, testified that Calocane said he wished to be arrested and to speak with the police. When asked why not question his motive immediately, Foster explained he aimed to build rapport to determine whether Calocane had other information to share, and described Calocane as calm, compliant, and coherent.
Superintendent Lorraine Busby-McVey of the Metropolitan Police said FATC, the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre, had examined Calocane but he did not meet its threshold for further assessment. She noted that an intelligence report about Calocane’s Thames House visit was forwarded to Nottinghamshire Police the next day, 1 June, but that the force did not undertake its own assessment at that time. She said she would have preferred a proactive, cross-force review. She also mentioned that the report, though shared with the force, was not accessible to all officers, and that a new system to improve information-sharing between police forces had since been introduced.
The inquiry also heard from Calocane’s former flatmate, who is identified only as Sebastian. Sebastian described an incident in which Calocane grabbed his shirt and arm, pushed him against a wall, and mumbled confusing phrases before saying someone would contact him and that he should tell them that VC would find them. Sebastian later contacted Nottinghamshire Police; an officer told him a report would be filed and flagged to an agency, but Sebastian recalled no specifics about which agency. He also alleged stalking and attempts by Calocane to enter his bedroom at night, leading Sebastian to lock his door and fear further harm. He reported to the same prior contact that Calocane had tried to enter his room again, but received no clear response, which he described as surprising and unsettling.
As the investigation unfolds, questions persist about how these early indicators were handled and whether earlier intervention might have prevented later violence. The inquiry continues to hear testimonies and examine institutional responses.
