A FURIOUS mother of Barnaby Webber has accused the NHS of washing its hands of violent patient Valdo Calocane — leaving him free to kill her teenage son and two others.
Emma Webber, 51, spoke about a series of catastrophic failings in Calocane’s mental health treatment before he began his devastating knife spree last year.
5
Emma Webber has accused the NHS of washing its hands of violent patient Valdo Calocane — leaving him free to kill her teenage son and two others Credit: Neil Hope
5
Nine months later he killed Nottingham University student Barnaby and his friend Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19. Credit: Dan Charity
5
School caretaker Ian Coates, 65, was also killed in the attackCredit: PA
5
Mum Emma spoke out as a series of catastrophic failings in Calocane’s mental health treatment emerged before he began his devastating knife spree last yearCredit: PA
5
Daniel Anjorin, 14, was killed on his way to school in east London in AprilCredit: PA
The killer, 32, was controversially given a hospital order for manslaughter due to diminished responsibility due to a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.
A shocking review, published today, at the NHS trust where Calocane was treated before the attack reveals officers missed at least eight opportunities to stop him from committing murder.
One doctor warned he could kill, three years before the Nottingham attack. Incredibly, the Trust discharged him back to GP in September 2022.
Nine months later, he murdered Nottingham University student Barnaby and his friend Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, plus school caretaker Ian Coates, 65.
Emma is calling for a complete restructuring of mental health services to prevent similar attacks – and wants all those responsible for allowing the triple murders to face the consequences.
She told The Sun: “Nottingham mental health services washed their hands of this dangerous individual and set him free to slaughter Barnaby, Grace and Ian.
Barnaby Webber’s parents ask why us, what have we done to deserve this? after he was tragically killed by Valdo Calocane
“What we assumed was that the experts did not do a proper risk assessment when they fired Calocane.
“It wouldn’t take much looking at the case files to see that he was seriously mentally ill and violent. This attack was always going to happen – it was just a case of when, not if.
“I think it is disgusting how these highly educated medical professionals behaved in an extremely unprofessional and most shameful manner.
“As a mother who lost a son, ‘we are overwhelmed, we have limited resources, waiting lists’ will never be an excuse.”
A report by the Care Quality Commission for Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust found that key details outlining Calocane’s threat to himself and others were left out of the risk assessment.
Emma is certain there are “more Valdos Calocanes” and is calling for an immediate review of mental health services.
How many more families and parents have to bear the news that we had to bear on June 13 last year?
Emma Webber
She said: “How many more families and parents have to deal with the news that we had to deal with on June 13 last year?
“We need to get to the heart of what is so bad in our communities and analyze why people are carrying out these attacks.”
She said she “can’t bear the thought” of more needless deaths such as the young girls fatally stabbed in Southport last month or Daniel Anjorin, 14, killed on his way to school in east London in April.
Emma said: “The priority must be public safety. We can’t have people be afraid to put their kids in holiday clubs, we can’t have parents be afraid to send their kids to college or put them on the bus to go to school.
“What’s more important than providing that level of safety for the public? We have a right to life.”
She said the Attorney General told her last week that a public inquiry would be held.
There is a very real risk that no one will answer our questions properly. They will continue to shift responsibility. But on my deathbed, I won’t let that happen. I can’t do this to my son. We all deserve better. The British public deserve better
Emma Webber
Along with the families of Grace and Ian, she is demanding a statutory inquiry, led by a judge, to hold those responsible to account.
She warned that she would “never accept” repeat inquiries in which they “apologize for their failings and say lessons will be learned”.
And she said: “There is a very real risk that no one will answer our questions properly. They will continue to shift responsibility. But on my deathbed, I won’t let that happen. I can’t do this to my son.
“We all deserve better. The British public deserve better.”
Emma demands that the clinicians who carried out a risk assessment on Calocane before discharging him face the consequences.
She said: “Medical decision makers who have failed so badly must be held to account. Yes, it could be catastrophic for their careers, but it’s not as catastrophic as it is for us.”
To Emma’s shock, the review also found there was a “clear pattern” of Calocane not taking her medication since starting treatment.
Emma said: “There has been no assertive management on behalf of the NHS. The only person who claimed something was Valdo Calocane. The person who was in control all the way was Valdo Calocane.”
She said his hoarding of medication raised further doubts about the decision to issue him with a hospital order.
Emma recalled how the doctor “spent 20 minutes in court” talking about how Calocane couldn’t go to jail because he was resistant to treatment.
She continued: “However, we now know that he was not resistant to treatment, he was just resisting his treatment. He stockpiled his medications, lied about taking them, even went and picked up his prescriptions.
“He knew what he was doing. There was testimony from his current psychiatrist that he was responding to treatment and that his violent tendencies had disappeared. It’s damning.
He knew what he was doing. There was testimony from his current psychiatrist that he was responding to treatment and that his violent tendencies had disappeared. That is damning
Emma Webber
“We always said he was mentally ill, but he was thought to be so ill that he could never go to prison.
“We say this evil, depraved, cruel murderer should be punished when the time comes. It is completely unfair that he is a patient and not a prisoner.”
She revealed that she was “sick” reading the report.
She said: “It was a visceral and genuine shock. I was shaking as I read that. When Barnaby was killed, we knew it would be the most catastrophic grief we would try to overcome.
“But we never thought that in one moment there would be such great negligence and omission. Not just in the NHS, everywhere we looked we couldn’t find a single person who was doing their job properly.”
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education