Valdo Calocane's mother thought son 'posed risk to others years before' triple killing

Valdo Calocane's mother thought her son "posed a risk to others" years before he killed three people in Nottingham in June 2023.

Celeste Calocane told the Nottingham inquiry she thought her son was a risk to others years before he stabbed three people to death, citing his poor mental state.

Ms Calocane said during the inquiry, taking place at Mary Ward House in London, she wanted her son, who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, to be treated for psychosis six years ago in May 2020.

Three years later, Calocane killed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O-Malley-Kumar, as well as 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coates, before trying to kill a further three people by attempting to run them over with a van in Nottingham.

Mrs Calocane, who was 16 when she gave birth to Valdo, her eldest son, gave evidence to the inquiry today which has been set up to examine the events leading up to the killings.

Calocane was first encountered by the police when he was arrested in May 2020 when he damaged a neighbour's door.

Recalling when she learnt of his first arrest, the triple-killer's mother said: "When they called to say ‘Your son’s been arrested for burglary’… I said, 'He's 28 years old, how can he be arrested for burglary? He’s never done anything like that. That’s out of character. I can’t accept that.'"

"I said, 'You’re telling me he's becoming a delinquent. That’s not my son.'"

The inquiry heard around this time, Calocane had phoned his family "sounding agitated and crying".

Notes from the time showed Mrs Calocane wanted her son to be hospitalised after his arrest in May 2020, which stated he was a "risk to others".

Counsel to the inquiry, Rachel Langdale KC, asked: "You were satisfied you did say that? 'His current mental state is a risk to others.'

"You recognised that and wanted him to go to hospital for treatment?"

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Mrs Calocane responded: "Yes definitely, I wanted him to go to hospital. I did not understand the extent of the risk, but I wanted it."

The inquiry was told Calocane was released from custody after his first arrest on May 24, 2020, but on the same day, he forced a woman to jump out of a window when he kicked at her door, causing her to sustain serious injuries to her spine.

He was taken to Highbury Hospital in Nottinghamshire the next day.

Mrs Calocane described how she was working in an intensive care unit during the coronavirus pandemic and began crying whilst explaining how she had to put on a "brave face".

She told the inquiry: "It was just like beyond anything you could imagine."

Whilst in hospital, Calocane would call his mother wanting to speak to his relatives.

She wrote in a statement: "If we stopped talking, he’d ask us to keep talking.

"I just thought at that time, with everything that was going on around the world, and then he was far away… he was feeling lonely, being away from the family and then can’t see us.

"In hindsight, I think it was an attempt by him to hear something other than the voices in his head."

Elias Calocane, the killer's younger brother, created a "journal" of messages, the inquiry heard, between him and his sibling to give to his doctors.

Mrs Calocane claimed she had not seen the messages, which included the killer's thoughts of "red rum" (murder spelt backwards) and wanting to "hurt permanently".

She said during the inquiry: "I was going through, like, a really hard time myself, and Valdo being unwell.

"I think probably that’s the reason, just for protecting me, that he (Elias) didn’t mention that."

Yesterday, the inquiry heard Elias thought his older brother's text messages were suicidal thoughts rather than being about harming others.

The mother also said her son's "I love you" messages to family members were "out of character".

She thought her son was discharged from the hospital "too early" after he was taken in for a second time in July 2020.

Mrs Calocane said: "I was never happy with the discharge plan from the first and second admission, because I know my son better than any other psychiatrist.

"I don’t know what’s going on with him and his head and everything, but I see he was an empty shell when I look at him. He wasn’t there."

She added he "wasn’t ready for discharge".

Mrs Calocane told the inquiry she was not told by a doctor that her son "could end up killing someone" during his second stint in hospital.

The inquiry heard the triple-killer's grandfather on his father's side also suffered from mental health issues, being described as having "problems in his head" as he did not recognise his own son when he returned from school one day.

Calocane's father said he was not aware if his own dad had received any medical diagnosis for his mental health.

His parents said they had been "thinking hard as a family" about any relevant information that could point to their son's mental health problems.

Calone was hospitalised for his mental health four times before he fatally attacked three people in June 2023.

The inquiry continues.

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