The mother of a student killed in the 2023 Nottingham attacks said state failures were similar to the Henry Nowak case, and replicated across the country.Emma Webber, whose son Barney Webber was one of three people stabbed to death by paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane three years ago, is demanding systematic change.She also urged people not use what happened in Nottingham to 'incite any more hate and any more rioting', following angry protests in Southampton linked to Mr Nowak's killer.She said there were 'absolutely' parallels between her son's death and that of 18-year-old Mr Nowak, who was handcuffed by police officers when they ignored his pleas that he had been stabbed as he bled to death.Mr Nowak's killer, 23-year-old Sikh man Vickrum Digwa, made bogus claims to police at the scene in Southampton that he had been the victim of a racist attack.A three-and-a-half month inquiry into the Nottingham attacks concluded today, and exposed root and branch failures that left Calocane free to kill 19-year-old Mr Webber, his friend and fellow 19-year-old undergraduate Grace O'Malley-Kumar, and 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates.Calocane also seriously injured three pedestrians after stealing Mr Coates' work van and ramming it into people until he was finally brought to a stop.Asked about the parallels in the state failings between the Nottingham case and what happened to Mr Nowak as the inquiry's evidential hearings concluded today, Mrs Webber said: 'If we start to delve into our agencies and systems in this country a little bit deeper, it's replicated in every city, in every part of the UK. Emma Webber, whose son Barney was killed in 2023, urged that the tragedy was 'not used as an opportunity' for scoring political points Mrs Webber (front) with husband Dave (back right), and sons Barney (Back left) and Charlie (Back centre), taken on their last family holiday in Palma in 2022, a year before Barney was stabbed to death in Nottingham'Talk about lines in the sand, we've had to make so much noise and I have so much respect for Henry's family.'But they're saying the same as us – don't use our tragedy as an opportunity for politicising, for aggrandising yourself and your party or your beliefs.'And for God's sake, don't use it to incite any more hate and any more rioting. 'That's not going to help us, that's going to dilute what we're trying to do.'Speaking about the inquiry itself, Mrs Webber said: 'It's been bruising, brutal, heart-wrenching, tragic, sickening.'It's actually been nearly three years since it happened, and the failures keep coming.'Dr Sanjoy Kumar, father of Ms O'Malley-Kumar, said: 'The important thing is that this is not an end of any sort for us.'This is very much, I think, the beginning of accountability. Our fight has been about accountability and about the fact this should never happen to a family in England again. An inquiry has been looking into how a mentally ill man was free to kill three people, (left to right) Ian Coates, Mr Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar 'If you don't find people accountable, you will never change your system. 'Systems are made out of people, and it's really important to find the people who simply just didn't do their jobs accountable.'The inquiry heard Calocane had been sectioned four times in the three years before he struck on June 13 2023, but he was repeatedly released back into the community despite concerns about his deteriorating behaviour.A consultant psychiatrist even warned he 'could end up killing someone' when he was first sectioned in 2020.He had a history of violence and reportedly assaulted two colleagues at the factory where they worked just weeks before he struck.Yet Leicestershire Police called to the scene did not realise Calocane already had an outstanding warrant for his arrest by Nottinghamshire Police for allegedly assaulting an emergency worker.Calocane repeatedly misled medical professionals in Nottingham, refusing to take a certain type of medication because of his supposed fear of needles - despite getting Covid jabs.He was discharged from his specialised mental health team to his GP around nine months before he struck, after failing to engage with them.And it was revealed the mental health team previously flagged concerns about sectioning Calocane, who is originally from Guinea-Bissau in West Africa, in case it was seen as racist. Valdo Calocane has been handed an indefinite hospital order for the killing spreeCalocane, now 34, pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and is currently serving an indefinite hospital order.The victims' families remain angry over the decision to accept this plea rather than push for a murder conviction. The final report is due to be released next year.
Mother of Nottingham attack victim says Nowak case has parallels
Emma Webber's 19-year-old son Barney was killed by a paranoid schizophrenic during a rampage in 2023. She said there were similarities in state failings with the case of Henry Nowak.















