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Police officers under investigation over alleged assaults by
Nottingham killer
(HTM) Source
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Three Leicestershire Police officers are under investigation over how
they dealt with alleged assaults by Valdo Calocane the month before he
killed three people in Nottingham.
Watchdog the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said two
constables and a sergeant have been told they are being investigated
over how inquiries were progressed.
It is claimed that Calocane assaulted two colleagues at an industrial
estate in Kegworth, Leicester, in May last year.
The following month, he went on to kill students Barnaby Webber and
Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, along with caretaker Ian Coates, 65, in
a knife rampage in Nottingham.
The IOPC said it is "looking at Leicestershire Police's contact with
Mr Calocane prior to the killings last June and in particular the
actions and decisions taken by officers during an investigation into
alleged assaults by him the preceding month (May 2023) at Kegworth,
Leicester."
(left to right) Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar
were all killed by Calocane, who has paranoid schizophrenia, in
Nottingham in June last year (Nottinghamshire Police/PA)
Leicestershire Police referred itself to the watchdog in February this
year.
"We have advised three Leicestershire Police officers, two police
constables and a sergeant, that they are under investigation for
potential misconduct over how enquiries were progressed," the IOPC
said.
"Decisions on whether any officers have a disciplinary case to answer
will be taken on completion of the investigation."
Separately, the watchdog is also examining a number of complaints made
by the Nottingham victims' families.
Investigators are looking at what information was available to police
about Calocane before the killings on June 13 2023.
They are also examining:
- Nottinghamshire Police's decisions and actions relating to Calocane
between September 2021 and the events of June 13 last year
- how the force informed the families of the death of their loved
ones, and the support they put in place for them, including how
information from the ongoing investigation was communicated to them
- whether senior officers followed relevant policies and procedures in
their oversight of officers investigating the events of June 13 and
subsequent events, including communications with the family and public
over the handling of inappropriate WhatsApp messaging and potential
sharing of information about the case.
The IOPC said all Nottinghamshire Police officers are currently being
treated as witnesses, meaning there is no indication of any wrongdoing
at this stage.
Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order for three
counts of manslaughter and another three of attempted murder in
January.
An appeal by the Attorney General arguing that the sentence was unduly
lenient was rejected.
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