Nottingham attacks families 'face their own life sentence to ensure Valdo Calocane is never freed - like Fred West'

The Nottingham attacks families have vowed to make sure killer Valdo Calocane stays locked up forever like serial killer Fred West, after a bid to have his sentence increased was refused at the Court of Appeal on Tuesday.

Emma Webber, mum of victim Barnaby, said the families 'faced their own life sentence' in ensuring Calocane was never released, like notorious murderers Ian Brady and Fred West.

Court of Appeal judges ruled the hospital order handed to killer Valdo Calocane in January was not "unduly lenient", following an application by the Attorney General Victoria Prentis.

Students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley Kumar, along with school caretaker Ian Coates, died after being stabbed by Calocane in Nottingham in June last year. He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order after admitting to manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility. He had been assessed as schizophrenic and was said to have been going through a psychotic episode at the time of the attacks.

Attorney General Victoria Prentis applied to the Court of Appeal in February to have the sentence increased to include a custodial element, should Calocane recover. However, the Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr ruled on Tuesday (May 14) at the Royal Courts of Justice in London that the sentence was fair.

Speaking outside the court afterwards, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, Grace's father, said the decision was "disappointing" but not "unexpected" and added that the investigation was "flawed".

"This is a failure of two police forces [Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire], a failure of a mental health trust, and council. It is the missed opportunities to prevent the Nottingham attacks and the murder of our children and Ian Coates that have led us here today.

• READ MORE: Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane's sentence not 'unduly lenient' say top Court of Appeal judges

"We will continue to pursue agencies that failed us and hold them responsible so that no other family is made to suffer like ours," Mr Kumar said. Emma Webber, Barnaby's mum, also issued a statement following the hearing, despite not attending in person.

Mrs Webber said: "Today’s ruling comes as no surprise to the families of the Nottingham attack victims. It was inevitable and was not a review of anything other than the letter of the law as it stands.

"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. It also illustrates the need for urgent reforms in the UK homicide law.

"The fact remains, despite the words of the Judge, that almost 90 per cent of people serving hospital orders are out within 10 years and 98 per cent within 20 years. In effect the families now face their own life sentence of ensuring the monster that is Valdo Calocane becomes the next Ian Brady or Fred West and is never released.

"Given the failed investigation carried out by Nottinghamshire Police, the weak prosecution put forward by East Midlands CPS and the over reliance on doctors' reports, there was probably no other conclusion that could be made. The families have raised their concerns already with the Government with regard to obvious errors and omissions that have resulted in this tragedy."

Citing examples of that, Ms Webber added: "Even during the court ruling this morning there was reliance upon Calocane’s clean record (no mention of the failures by the police to execute warrants for his arrest or indeed the numerous investigations for his previous violent attacks), no questions about why he received no mental health assessment in custody, no treatment until mid-September and remained in prison until November. Also no questioning of why the defence doctor assessed him in July but did not release his report until October and why the CPS doctor did not see him until mid-November.

"There are many many more serious questions that the families will now continue to fight to get answered. We do not, and never will agree that the vicious, calculated and planned attacks carried out were that of an individual who was at zero level of culpability.

"We have never disputed that he is mentally unwell. However, he knew what he was doing, he knew that it was wrong; but he did it anyway. There should be an element of punishment for such a heinous act; alongside appropriate treatment.

"This is just one part of the fight for justice and appropriate accountability for failures that the families have been forced to endure. 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."