UK released killer because ‘detaining him was racist’ – inquiry

Valdo Calocane, a migrant who killed three people in 2023, was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, but was not institutionalized

Valdo Calocane, a migrant diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia who went on a deadly stabbing spree in the UK in 2023, was previously released by mental health workers for fear of being labeled racist, an inquiry into the Nottingham triple murder has heard.

Calocane, who went to the UK from Guinea-Bissau in 2007, fatally stabbed teenage university students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and another man, Ian Coates, on June 13, 2023. He went on to steal Coates’ van and ran down three pedestrians, leaving them with serious injuries.

On Monday, a public inquiry heard that Calocane was pronounced a paranoid schizophrenic in July 2020 and placed under the care of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. It transpired that the man, who had failed to turn up to appointments and refused to take his medication, was later discharged by the NHS.

During the proceedings, it also came to light that at one point in 2020, mental health professionals considered isolating the aggressive patient after he attempted to kick down a neighbor’s door. However, the NHS staff decided to release Calocane into the community over concerns related to the “over-representation of young black males in detention,” the inquiry learned. The decision was made despite one psychiatrist warning that “perhaps [he] will end up killing someone.”

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On top of that, the bereaved families accused the Nottinghamshire police of attempting to cover up their failures to arrest the paranoid schizophrenic before he went on the deadly stabbing spree.

Calocane had a history of violent assaults as well as stalking and harassment complaints. None of the incidents apparently attracted the police’s attention.

The pedestrian survivors alleged that the local authorities originally told them that they had no prior dealings with Calocane. During the inquiry, however, a representative of the Nottinghamshire police acknowledged that the force had been aware of a series of “unpleasant and antisocial” incidents involving him. The official insisted, however, that “they did not reasonably herald that he would become a triple killer,” and that it was “simply not correct” to suggest a cover-up.