Nottingham knife attack victim Grace O’Malley-Kumar died a hero ‘after trying to save friend’

Student ‘could have run’ but tried to defend her fellow student Barnaby Webber

Nottingham knife attack victim Grace O’Malley-Kumar has been praised for her actions by locals who said she died trying to protect her friend.

Ms O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19-year-old students at the University of Nottingham, were fatally stabbed in the early hours of Tuesday.

Local school caretaker Ian Coates was also killed in a separate incident as part of the attack in the East Midlands city.

Left to right: Grace Kumar, her father Dr Sanjoy Kumar, mother Sinead and brother James (Family handout/PA)

CCTV shows Ms O’Malley-Kumar and Mr Webber walking back from the city’s PRYZM nightclub and witnesses have recalled how the ordeal played out.

“The girl had an opportunity to run away,” a Nottingham woman, who did not wish to be named, told Mail Online of her home footage.

“But she didn’t, she tried to get the man off her friend. She tried to save the boy.”

“What we witnessed on the screen keeps playing over in our minds … It’s awful,” she said of the CCTV footage that she and her husband handed to the investigating police.

After the attack, Mr Webber had collapsed on Ilkeston Road while Ms O’Malley-Kumar reportedly stumbled as far as the garden of the house of the woman quoted but collapsed by the front door.

Barnaby Webber died at the scene (AP)

“It was a blessing in a way that we weren’t here, but I also can’t help thinking that if we had been in, we might have been able to help them,” the woman continued.

“There was so much blood outside the house the police thought somebody might be dead inside so they forced entry to check.”

Nottinghamshire Police have charged Valdo Calocane, 31, with three counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder. This relates to a van allegedly being driven at pedestrians in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

Mr Coates was found stabbed to death on Magdala Road, around two miles away from the Ilkeston Road scene, after his van was allegedly stolen.

A prison van arrives at Nottinghamshire Magistrates’ Court (PA)

Calocane, of no fixed address, appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Saturday. He was remanded in custody.

Chief Constable Kate Meynell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of all those affected by these attacks, and we will continue to provide support and reassurance. We would also ask people to respect the families’ wishes for privacy at this difficult time to allow them to grieve.”