The parents of a 19-year-old British-Indian medical student who was stabbed to death along with her friend in Nottingham, England last year said the attack could have been avoided if the attacker’s mental health had been properly managed by his doctors. Grace and her friend Barnaby Webber, both 19 years old, were attacked by Waldo Calocane, who has since been detained in a high-security hospital under a mental health order. Calocane stabbed three people to death in June 2023.
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) managed Calocen’s care from May 2020 until September 2022.
In January, Waldo Calocen, 32-year-old dual Guinea-Bissau/Portuguese citizenWas convicted of murder.
A review by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), which oversees health services in England, found that “a number of errors, omissions and wrong decisions” were made by mental health services in managing Calocen’s condition.
“I can clearly say that if this man had been treated and got himself treated, this entire attack could have been avoided,” Grace’s father, Sanjay Kumar, told the BBC.
Families demand public inquiry
The affected families are now calling for a “judge-led statutory public inquiry” to ensure the system is reformed.
Kumar emphasised the need to focus on Nottingham to understand what went wrong and make improvements. He highlighted that similar systems are in place across the country.
Caloocan, aged 30, showed signs of psychosis and had difficulty understanding or accepting his condition, and also had problems taking medication.
Former health secretary Victoria Atkins requested a CQC review to investigate Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT), which managed care at Caloocan from May 2020 to September 2022.
According to the BBC, the report found that “she had symptoms of psychosis and appeared to have little understanding or acceptance of her condition. Problems with taking her medication were also documented from the start. The review found there had been a number of errors, omissions and wrong decisions in her care.”
British government considering public inquiry
UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting confirmed the government and attorney general were “actively considering” how to launch an investigation.
“This report demonstrates major, widespread failings in the mental health trust’s handling of Caloocan from start to finish,” the victims’ families said in a joint statement reacting to the CQC report.
“The clinicians involved at every stage of Calocen’s care must bear a heavy burden of responsibility for their failures and poor decision-making. Sadly this is the first in a series of reports into the failings of public bodies responsible for the murders of our loved ones and beyond. These departments and individual professionals, along with the Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire police forces, have blood on their hands,” the BBC reported.