Valdo Calocane killed three people in Nottingham (Image: PA)
The killings committed by paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane were horrific enough. He took to the streets of Nottingham and hunted down his three victims – students Grace O’Malley Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19, and caretaker, Ian Coates.
And without mercy, he brutally murdered all three. But now we discover the reason – his cruel chaotic mind was so wildly out of control because the people in his mental health team refused to force him to take his anti-psychotic meds.
And the reasons for that are as insane as Calocane is.
Among these are that he didn’t like needles. And they also wanted to treat Calocane in the “least restrictive way”. And because of those lunatic decisions three people were slaughtered by a man doctors had always said was likely to kill.
Even the nurses who saw Calocane in the community begged his team to make him take medication because they were so terrified of him none of them were allowed to see him alone.
According to a new report that same team was also responsible for patients who committed three other killings and an incident where one patient stabbed FIVE people in a single weekend.
So Yes, Valdo Calocane suffered from one form of lunacy. But the people charged with his care were suffering from quite another and need to be brought to book for it.
Because without doubt their carelessness, their laziness, their total inability to understand the illness they were dealing with led Calocane to kill three innocent people.
And now the families of the dead want them named. And yes they absolutely should be named.
Not out of vengeance but because the nation must know who these people are so they may never again be allowed to work with mentally ill people. And so they can be made to be accountable. And if that means criminal charges so be it.
Because how can any medical team dealing with a violent schizophrenic, who doctors had said could, and probably would kill, think it OK not to force him to take medication, to control his violence.
The report said: “They took on board VC’s reasons for not wanting to take medication which included him not liking needles.”
I’m sorry but stuff that. This man had been terrifyingly violent for years and yet this mental health team cared more about his fear of needles than the safety of the British public.
The fact is Calocane should never have been allowed out into the community. In days gone by we had what used to be called asylums and they kept killers like him away from innocent people.
And maybe that’s what we need now. Trouble is we live in a society that cares more about violent killers and “their needs” than they do about the lives of innocents.
But all this is why those on Calocane’s medical team must be named and brought to book because they’re dangerous and should never be let anywhere near mentally ill people ever again.
There had been so many warnings, so many red flags about Calocane yet they were all ignored.
And that’s why we cannot allow cases like this to be dealt with by some covert internal investigation where the most they’ll get is a smack on the wrists. They won’t lose their jobs or their reputations and they’ll doubtless be allowed to carry on with their dangerous work in some other NHS Trust.
As Grace O‘Malley Kumar’s Mum, Emma, said this week the professional implications of them being named bore absolutely no comparison to losing a much loved family member. And she’s right.
Grace’s Dad, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, demanded accountability and Mr Coates’ son, James, accused Calocane’s medical team of not doing their jobs properly.
Which is why if these people aren’t named and dealt with there’ll be another Valdo
Calocane, there’ll be more murders and there’ll be more devastated , broken families.
And a simple “sorry” from the Nottingham Health Trust that allowed all this to happen just doesn’t cut it.
Because on what planet did they think it right to discharge Calocane from mental health services in Sept 2022 because he’d missed a number of appointments.
Surely that should have set off alarm bells and had people checking on him. But instead they just crossed him off their books and said “not our problem anymore”. I despair when I read these reports like this – the details of which NHS England wanted to hide and just wanted to publish a summary. And when you read it you can see why – it’s beyond damning.
I also despair when the bosses of these trusts and health bodies on their big fat salaries promise change and that this will never happen again when you know it in your guts it absolutely will. Because all any of them are ever interested in is covering their backsides and making the problem go away.
A line in the report said: “We found a number of failings including his risk not being fully understood, managed and documented.”
Yes we know all that but what’s going to be done about it?
The report also says: “Nationally, we have asked every mental health trust to review these findings and set out action plans for how they treat and engage with people who have a serious mental illness, including how they work with other agencies such as the police. And we’ve instructed trusts not to discharge people if they do not attend appointment.”
You hear that and you know it’s all just baloney. It’s just words. Because if you work in mental health care and you don’t understand that those like Valdo Calocane must be forced to take anti-psychotic medication – whether they like it or not – then you’re not fit for the job and should be sacked.
What Grace, Barnaby and Ian’s families need now is proof that things WILL change and NHS England can start by doing what they ask and naming those people whose incompetence ultimately led to these horrific murders.
If they don’t do that they’re not serious about changing anything….They’re just parroting platitudes.