Nottingham attacks: Triple murder suspect appears in court following deaths of university students and caretaker

Former University of Nottingham student Valdo Calocane appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Saturday
[object Object]
ES Composite
Josh Payne17 June 2023
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

A triple murder suspect has been remanded in custody by magistrates after two students and a school caretaker were killed in knife and van attacks in Nottingham.

Former University of Nottingham student Valdo Calocane, who gave his name as Adam Mendes, appeared in the dock at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Saturday wearing a grey T-shirt and grey jogging bottoms, and flanked by three security officers.

The 31-year-old is accused of murdering first-year students Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber and school caretaker Ian Coates in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Calocane is also alleged to have attempted to murder three pedestrians, Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller, after Mr Coates’ van was used to drive at people in Milton Street and Upper Parliament Street.

The defendant, who remained calm throughout the hearing, spoke only to confirm his name as “Adam Mendes”, his date of birth and that he was of no fixed abode, and was not required to enter any pleas to the charges.

Medical student Ms O’Malley-Kumar, from Woodford in London, and history student Mr Webber, from Taunton in Somerset, who were both 19, were found fatally knifed on Ilkeston Road at around 4am.

Mr Coates, 65, was then found stabbed to death in Magdala Road after his van was allegedly stolen.

Calocane is alleged to have used the van to drive at a pedestrian in Milton Street and a further two people in South Sherwood Street.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust said two patients are stable and one has been discharged following the van incidents.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the driver of a marked police car had sight of the vehicle for “less than a minute” before it collided with the pedestrians in South Sherwood Street.

Magistrates heard Calocane is also charged with assaulting a police constable following an incident in Nottingham in September 2021.

The charge of assaulting an emergency worker will next be heard at the same court on June 26.

The family of Mr Webber described their “complete devastation” at the “senseless murder of our son”, saying he was a “beautiful, brilliant, bright young man, with everything in life to look forward to”.

Ms O’Malley-Kumar’s family described her as a “truly wonderful and beautiful young lady” and that she would be “so dearly missed”.

Two of Mr Coates’ sons said his death had “rocked everyone’s world”, adding: “Nobody deserves this but he definitely didn’t.”

Police revealed the suspect is a former University of Nottingham student, but said “this is not believed to be connected with the attack”.

Chairwoman of the bench of magistrates, Allison Folkett, remanded Calocane into custody to appear at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in