Man accused of Nottingham triple murder appears in court

Valdo Calocane, 31, is accused of killing Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates

A man accused of murder and attempted murder after three people were killed in Nottingham has appeared in court.

Valdo Calocane, 31, has been remanded in custody by magistrates following a series of knife and van attacks in the city on Tuesday.

The former university student is accused of killing University of Nottingham students Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber and school caretaker Ian Coates in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

A police officer outside Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Saturday as Valdo Calocane appeared inside (Ben Birchall/PA Wire)

Calocane is also alleged to have attempted to murder three pedestrians after Mr Coates’ van was used to drive at people in Milton Street and South Sherwood Street.

The defendant, of no fixed address, appear at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court and is due to appear at crown court next week for a further hearing.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust said two patients are now 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.

Police outside court on Saturday (Ben Birchall/PA Wire)

Medical student Ms O’Malley-Kumar and history student Mr Webber, both 19, were found fatally knifed on Ilkeston Road at around 4am.

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

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”.

The three victims were Barnaby Webber, Grace Kumar and Ian Coates (PA/Huntingdon Academy)

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”.

Thousands of people gathered in the city’s Market Square to pay their respects to the three victims at an emotional vigil on Thursday.

Crowds stretching back almost half a kilometre watched on with tears in their eyes as the families delivered powerful, heart-wrenching tributes to their loved ones.

The heartbroken mothers of the two talented students urged the city to “hold no hate”.

Mr Webber’s mother, Emma Webber, fought back tears as she told the crowd that the “monstrous individual” responsible for the deaths “will not define us”.

“I know he will receive the retribution that he deserves,” she said. “However this evil person is just that. He is just a person. Please hold no hate that relates to any colour, sex or religion.”

A huge number of people watching sobbed as Dr Sanjoy Kumar said their family had “become three”.

He had to pause to wipe his eyes during his address, calling himself a “broken-heart father” before asking people to imagine a world without violence, one of “just love”.

The sons of Ian Coates paid tribute to their father wearing red Nottingham Forest shirts, which all had “R.I.P Dad” printed on the back.

One of them, James, said: “It feels like he’s touched a lot of hearts over the years, more than what we assumed and knew that he had, so it’s been really nice and heart-warming to see the messages and people come out and talk about how he was when they were younger and how he’s helped them.”

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