'Confront failure and fix it': Families speak ahead of Nottingham attacks inquiry
#Nottingham attacks#Public inquiry#Valdo Calonane#Victims' families#Mental health care failings#Accountability#Systemic reform
📌 Key Takeaways
Public inquiry examines failures in care of Valdo Calonane who killed three in Nottingham
Families seek accountability and systemic changes, not just apologies
Calonane had been under NHS care and known to police before attacks
Inquiry expected to run until May with final report due within two years
📖 Full Retelling
Victims' families, led by Emma Webber whose son Barnaby was among the three killed, have spoken as a public inquiry began in London on May 1, 2025, to examine failures in the care and handling of Valdo Calonane, who carried out the fatal attacks in Nottingham in June 2023, with the families seeking accountability and systemic changes to prevent similar tragedies. The judge-led inquiry, chaired by retired judge Her Honour Deborah Taylor, will examine the actions of various agencies that had previously interacted with Calonane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. This comprehensive investigation comes after multiple reviews and reports highlighted serious failings in his care, with the families insisting that only a statutory inquiry with compelled witness testimony could provide the accountability they seek. Emma Webber, reading a statement on behalf of the victims' families outside the inquiry venue, emphasized that 'today is not simply the start of an inquiry, it is a test of whether this country is prepared to confront failure and fix it.' The families have expressed frustration with previous apologies and reviews, insisting that they need 'safeguards, not reflection, not regret.' They are specifically calling for 'accountability right down to an individual level' and sweeping changes across every institution involved. Calonane is currently serving a hospital order after pleading guilty to three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and three counts of attempted murder, an outcome the families have consistently contested.
🏷️ Themes
Accountability, Systemic Failure, Mental Health Care
Official review of events or actions ordered by a government body
A public inquiry, also known as a tribunal of inquiry, government inquiry, or simply inquiry, is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such an inquiry differs from a royal commiss...
Concept of responsibility in ethics, governance and decision-making
In ethics and governance, accountability is equated with answerability, culpability, liability, and the expectation of account-giving.
As in an aspect of governance, it has been central to discussions related to problems in the public sector, nonprofit, private (corporate), and individual contexts. ...
In the early morning of 13 June 2023, three people were fatally stabbed and three others were injured when a van was driven into them in three connected attacks in Nottingham in the East Midlands of the United Kingdom. At around 04:00 BST, Valdo Calocane fatally stabbed two university students in th...
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Original Source
Attacks inquiry a chance 'to confront failure' 1 hour ago Share Save Asha Patel and Tom Oakley , East Midlands Share Save The public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks will be a "test of whether this country is prepared to confront failure and fix it", the victims' families have said. The judge-led inquiry is due to examine events leading up to the killing of Ian Coates, 65, and 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar by Valdo Calonane in June 2023. Evidence will be heard relating to the actions of agencies that had previously dealt with Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Barnaby's mother Emma Webber has called for "accountability right down to an individual level" at the statutory public inquiry in London, which is due to run until May. Calocane is serving a hospital order after pleading guilty to three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and three counts of attempted murder. The families affected have always been unhappy with that outcome. Ahead of the first day of hearings, Emma Webber read a statement on behalf of the victims' families outside the inquiry venue in London. She said: "Today is not simply the start of an inquiry, it is a test of whether this country is prepared to confront failure and fix it. "For years we have heard apologies. We have seen reviews, we have read reports, but apologies do not keep the public safe - change does. "We are not here for sympathy, we are here for safeguards, not reflection, not regret. Reform. "That is the legacy Barnaby, Grace and Ian deserve, and that is what public safety now demands." Earlier she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme she anticipated the next nine weeks would be "brutal". "It's been everything we've fought for nearly three years," she said. "Now that it's here it does feel overwhelming, but it does feel like the time is now. "So much went so wrong across every single institution, but in simple words we need the proper truth t...
