Officer Missed Arrest Warrant Prior to Fatal Attacks
A police officer failed to act after viewing a log containing an outstanding arrest warrant for Valdo Calocane weeks before he committed fatal stabbings in Nottingham, a public inquiry has revealed.
On 13 June 2023, Calocane fatally stabbed Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both aged 19, and 65-year-old Ian Coates, and attempted to kill three others.
Less than two months before the attacks, Leicestershire Police responded to a call regarding Calocane violently assaulting a couple at a warehouse in Kegworth where he was employed.
PC Libbie Mae Taylor, who was handling the warehouse incident, apologized during the inquiry, stating she "didn't see" the arrest warrant despite evidence indicating she had accessed the police log containing the information.
The Nottingham Inquiry, chaired by retired judge Deborah Taylor, is investigating the circumstances leading up to the attacks.
More than 100 witnesses, including representatives from Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire Police and the NHS, are providing testimony during the inquiry, which is scheduled to run for nine weeks in London.
Details of the Warehouse Assault Incident
The inquiry heard that on 5 May 2023, Calocane punched a colleague at the Kegworth warehouse, operated by logistics company Arvato, knocking him to the ground, before kicking and pushing the man's wife.
Leicestershire Police were called and attended the scene; however, Calocane had been escorted off the premises before PC Taylor and her supervisor, PC Connor Amos-Perkins, arrived.
PC Taylor, who was the officer in charge of the investigation, described taking brief notes during interviews with staff and victims and recording the conversations on her body-worn camera.
However, the footage was not saved as she did not consider it necessary.
At the time, Taylor was a probationary officer on her 12th operational shift.
Calocane had been recruited through Sky Recruitment and started working at the warehouse on 1 May. He was known to Arvato as Val Mendez, and police were directed to the agency to obtain his full name and details.
Access to Police Database and Arrest Warrant
A police log presented at the inquiry showed that on 24 May, Taylor received Calocane's full name and address.
She then searched his name on the police database, Niche, which revealed Calocane's history of police interactions.
The first entry on the log indicated an outstanding arrest warrant issued after Calocane failed to appear at Nottingham Crown Court in September 2022 for assaulting a police officer the previous year.
An audit of the database showed Taylor accessed the log twice, once for approximately 30 seconds and another time for 42 seconds.
Despite this, she stated she made her own entry related to the warehouse assault but did not review the remainder of the log.
Officer's Response to Missing the Warrant
If I did click on it and that's what the Niche audit says, all I can say is I've not absorbed that information, because if I had seen that I would have said something to [my supervisor] and I didn't, and therefore, I didn't see it.
The log also contained records of previous incidents involving Calocane dating back to 2020, including assaults on flatmates, breaking into a neighbor's flat, and attempting to break into other homes.
In a statement to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), which is conducting a separate investigation into police interactions with Calocane before the attacks, Taylor said she believed she had reviewed previous investigations.
When questioned about reviewing the log, she said,
I don't recall looking at the list, I don't recall. I've never seen the warrant.
She added that had she seen the warrant, she would have informed her supervisor, PC Connor Amos-Perkins, who was reportedly with her at the time.
I think that in this incident, I made mistakes, I think that when we've all admitted, you know, accepted that we've made these mistakes and unfortunately, it's really difficult.
And I only apologise for making those mistakes and the role that I played in it.
Supervisor's Evidence
PC Connor Amos-Perkins testified that he could not recall reviewing Calocane's police history on the database.
He stated,
I didn't know anything about this warrant at the time of the investigation.
Angela Patrick KC, representing the bereaved families, asked Amos-Perkins,
If you'd been sat next to PC Taylor and she'd asked you for help, you'd have seen the screen wouldn't you?
Amos-Perkins replied that he would "not naturally" have seen the screen and could not recall his exact position in the office at the time.
When asked if he had leaned over to take a quick look, he said,
No I didn't, and I should have.
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