Valdo Calocane was discharged from Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s mental health services just months before he fatally stabbed three people and launched a van attack in Nottingham.
The inquiry into the incidents revealed that healthcare workers lost contact with Calocane, which led to his discharge in September 2022 after multiple missed appointments and no engagement.
Calocane had been under the trust’s Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) service for two years. During this time, a consultant psychiatrist warned that he was likely to kill someone. Despite these warnings, attempts to engage him were unsuccessful, and the trust discharged him when he could not be located.
The inquiry heard from EIP team leader Emma Robinson, who detailed efforts to reach Calocane. These included home visits by care co-ordinator Gary Carter, phone calls, and letters, all of which went unanswered. His last contact was a misleading phone call in July 2022 when he claimed he was abroad.
Robinson explained, “We considered the risks to the public, but had no holding powers and couldn’t engage with him. We just couldn’t find him.” The trust decided to discharge him to his GP, effectively ending secondary mental health oversight.
The inquiry panel learned that Calocane’s GP received minimal information following his discharge, and Nottinghamshire Police were not informed of the situation. Robinson acknowledged that at the time it was common practice to discharge patients who did not engage, although these practices have since changed.
In June 2023, Calocane killed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both aged 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, aged 65, on Ilkeston Road in Nottingham. He then attempted further violence by driving a stolen van in the city centre.
Originally published by UKNIP.
