Three Leicestershire Police officers being investigated for how they dealt with Valdo Calocane before killing spree

A sergeant and two constables from Leicestershire Police are being investigated by the the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) over how they dealt with alleged assaults by Valdo Calocane the month before he killed three people in Nottingham and ran down three others.

It is claimed that Calocane assaulted two colleagues at an industrial estate in Kegworth, Leicestershire, in May last year. By the time officers from Leicestershire Police arrived at the scene, Calocane had fled, and he was never arrested in connection with the incident.

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. In a statement today, the IOPC said: "We have advised three Leicestershire Police officers, two police constables and a sergeant, that they are under investigation for potential misconduct over how inquiries were progressed. Decisions on whether any officers have a disciplinary case to answer will be taken on completion of the investigation."

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The families of the deceased have been unhappy with the answers they have received from the Leicestershire force about the Kegworth investigation. They made official complaints, which led to two ongoing investigations into both the Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire forces.

The IOPC's regional director, Derrick Campbell, said: “Our sympathies remain with the families of Ian, Grace and Barnaby for their loss in such tragic circumstances, and all those affected by the deaths. We recognise the significant public interest and concern over the horrific events of June last year, and the families’ understandable desire for answers as well as their call for change."

The IOPC investigation 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 at Kegworth".

The attacks in Nottingham city centre began at about 4am when Calocane attacked 19-year-old students Miss O’Malley-Kumar and Mr Webber with a knife, killing them both, before trying to break into a home nearby. He went on to stab school caretaker Mr Coates, 65, before stealing his van and, at about 5.25am, using it to ram three pedestrians at a bus stop, who all survived their injuries.

Calocane, 31, a former Nottingham University student, was charged three days later, and in January this year was detained indefinitely in a secure hospital after admitting three counts of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility. That sentence was reviewed by the Court of Appeal after complaints it was unduly lenient, but the judge's decision was upheld.

The IOPC also said all Nottinghamshire Police officers were currently being treated as witnesses, meaning there was no indication of any wrongdoing at this stage.