The family of a student who was among three killed in Nottingham have accused police of lacking basic compassion after bereaved relatives were not warned that a mentally ill man was “fixated” on the case.
Grace O’Malley-Kumar, who has multiple links to London, was stabbed to death along with undergraduate Barnaby Webber and school caretaker Ian Coates in June 2024.
The attacks were carried out by paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane, while three other victims were injured by a stolen van.
Emma Webber, the mother of Barnaby, has said that the man “fixated” on the case has a history of concerning behaviour and links to the Government’s Prevent anti-extremism programme.
It is believed that he travelled to Somerset to try to contact the family.
‘Left completely in the dark’
In a statement issued on Wednesday (September 2), the mother said her family had been “left completely in the dark” about the unnamed man’s behaviour and had no opportunity to take steps to protect themselves.
The Times reported that the man also attended the GP surgery of Grace’s father, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, but police failed to tell bereaved families that they were being stalked and downplayed the risk the man posed, claiming he was reaching out to “offer his help”.
Mrs Webber said: “Today's revelations are yet another devastating example of the incompetence and institutional failure that has come to define the response of Nottinghamshire Police and the IOPC to our family.
“We are told that a mentally ill man with a fixation on the Nottingham attacks, a history of concerning behaviour, and links to Prevent was able to travel to our hometown, actively seek out our family and the families of other victims, yet we were left completely in the dark.
“We were given no warning, no safeguarding advice, and no opportunity to take steps to protect ourselves, our workplaces, or our son Charlie’s school.”
She added: “For a family already living with the unimaginable trauma of losing Barnaby to a man who was known to services, known to have serious mental health issues, and known to present risks that were repeatedly missed, this latest revelation is utterly chilling.
“The idea that another individual displaying seemingly similar warning signs was able to travel across the country seeking us out, potentially visiting places connected to our family and our community, without us being told, is terrifying.”
She continued: “What is perhaps most disturbing is that this information was not withheld for days or weeks, but for many months.”
Questioning why bereaved families had not been informed, Mrs Webber continued: “If there are legal and safeguarding obligations to notify individuals of potential threats or risks to their welfare, why were those duties not applied in our case?
“This is not just a failure of communication. It is a failure of basic safeguarding, basic compassion and basic common sense.”
Dr Kumar told The Times he was horrified to learn that the man, a patient at a mental health institution, was “known for violence, fixated on our case and seeking us out, yet we have not been given an official warning”.
How does the Nottingham attack link to London?
Grace Kumar, 19, was a hockey star who played at London’s Southgate Hockey team as well as for the Old Loughtonians in Chigwell and England U18.
Before studying in Nottingham, she attended Bancroft's School in Redbridge.
Sinead O’Malley, Grace’s mother, was reportedly a consultant anaesthetist at The Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead.
Dr Kumar was also reportedly a GP who saved three teenage victims after they went to his search at the Larkshall Medical Centre in Chingford on February 11, 2009.
’We are assessing the referral’
A spokesperson for the IOPC said: “We can confirm that we received the referral of a complaint from Nottinghamshire Police in relation to information the force allegedly withheld from the families of Valdo Calocane’s victims about a potential witness who had tried to contact them.
“We are now assessing the referral to decide what further action is required.
“After originally receiving information from Nottinghamshire Police we spoke to a potential witness in January 2025 in connection with our investigation concerning the force’s interactions with Calocane prior to the attacks.
“It was unclear whether Calocane was the suspect for the matters that had been reported to police by the witness and the information was assessed as not relevant to our inquiries.
“We did however make the force aware of the information provided by the witness so it could take the appropriate safeguarding measures.”
The IOPC said it recognised that the families should have been updated that it had spoken to the witness at the time and had “acknowledged that in a recent update to them.”
A Nottinghamshire Police spokesperson said: “We received a complaint and due to the nature of the complaint referred the matter to the IOPC on August 24 and are awaiting their response.
“Unfortunately, we cannot comment any further at this stage while an investigation is under way. We have updated the complainant throughout the process.”
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