Dead students were tested for drugs and alcohol - but their killer was not, Nottingham inquiry hears

The father of a university student killed trying to protect her friend has told a public inquiry of his "disgust" that the stabbing victims were tested for drugs and alcohol - but their attacker was not.

Valdo Calocane stabbed to death Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar on 13 June 2023, before killing Ian Coates and trying to kill three others.

The Nottingham Inquiry heard how Calocane refused consent for toxicology samples while he was in custody after the attacks.

On Wednesday, Grace's father Dr Sanjoy Kumar said it was, therefore, "disgusting" that the bodies of his daughter and her friend and fellow student Barnaby were tested for drugs or alcohol after they died.

The judge-led inquiry also heard that medical records of Grace, Barnaby and Ian - whose sons and partner gave evidence on Tuesday - were accessed inappropriately after their deaths.

Chaired by retired senior judge Deborah Taylor KC, the inquiry is continuing to examine the events that led up to the attacks and the investigations, actions and decisions made by various agencies in the aftermath.

Grace's parents Sanjoy and Dr Sinead O'Malley-Kumar, as well as David and Emma Webber, Barnaby's mum and dad, gave their testimony to the inquiry at Mary Ward House in London.

Sanjoy told the inquiry he and Sinead were asked by police to sign a "human tissue form", so Grace's body could be released following the attacks.

The GP - and former forensic medical examiner with the Metropolitan Police - said he had never seen such a form in his professional capacity, but was told his daughter's body would not be released if the form was not signed.

"You had to sign them, but what was not highlighted was that this is a point in time where you are also signing to say samples could be taken," he added.

"That was absolutely not pointed out.

"They took samples from our children to test for drugs and alcohol. I was really struck by that being really quite disgusting."

Sinead and Sanjoy told the hearing that they were "constantly pushing back" against the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and police in the lead-up to Calocane's sentencing to a hospital order in January 2024.

They believed toxicology needed to be excluded, but learned later that no samples were taken from Calocane.

Sanjoy said he had asked specifically whether a hair sample was taken from the killer, after he refused blood and urine testing.

Earlier in the inquiry, Nottinghamshire Police apologised for failing to take toxicology samples from the killer but said there had been a "complete absence of any reference of drugs or drug abuse" in the investigation.

Ahead of his sentencing, Calocane - who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020 - was assessed by Prof Nigel Blackwood, a forensic psychiatrist who provided reports to the CPS.

Sinead said she had asked Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust - which discharged Calocane months before the deadly attacks - whether they had shared his medical records with Blackwood.

She was told the trust would do its own audit and come back to her.

But it was through that audit that the trust became aware there had been "inappropriate access that spread from their own trust to the acute trust".

In their evidence, David and Emma Webber described how they could "never forgive" Nottinghamshire Police after it emerged officers had shared offensive messaged about the attacks in a WhatsApp group chat.

Emma said she was informed by a family liaison officer from the force that a story might run in the media about the messages, but was not given any further detail.

It was only after Sanjoy contacted the chief constable that the families were told what had been said.

Emma said: "Reading the content of that WhatsApp message was so destructive, so destroying, so awful.

"And I don't mind the words being made public because the author of that message chose to refer to our children as being 'properly butchered'.

"That's disgusting and grotesque."

The inquiry heard earlier those officers were disciplined for over the messages.

David said his family were told throughout that Calocane's privacy was "massively important", but it appeared it was not the same for the victims.

He said: "At the very core of this is a tragic, disgusting, horrible incident that's happened and resulted in the loss of our child."

David said that material should not be something people want to look at again.

"It just makes me feel physically sick to be honest with you," he added.