‘I’m not coping well, I’ve lost my best friend’: Grace O’Malley-Kumar’s heartbroken brother reveals he’s ‘struggling immensely’ as he calls for inquiry into failures that led to Nottingham triple-killer Valdo Calocane’s bloody rampage

Grace O’Malley-Kumar’s heartbroken brother has revealed he’s ‘struggling immensely’ as he calls for an inquiry into failures that led to Nottingham triple-killer Valdo Calocane’s bloody rampage.

Grace and fellow University of Nottingham student Barnaby Webber, both 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, were all killed by Calocane – a ‘paranoid schizophrenic’ who dodged a murder verdict and was handed a hospital order instead.

It emerged that Nottinghamshire Police failed to arrest Calocane for allegedly attacking two people weeks before the stabbings. A special review has also been ordered into the mental health trust that treated him before the killings.

Asked how he has been since the attack, Grace’s teenage brother James O’Malley-Kumar, who has set up a charitable foundation in his sister’s honour, admitted: ‘I’m not coping well, I’ve lost my best friend, I’ve been lost since June 13 and I’m struggling immensely.’

James, who spoke outside of Downing Street, after Rishi Sunak said he wouldn’t rule out a public inquiry, said: ‘This is what I can do to make my sister proud, so I will do everything I can.

‘That’s why I’m here today.’

Last week, the killer was given a hospital order for manslaughter by diminished responsibility after Nottingham Crown Court heard he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Barbaby’s family called the hospital order a ‘huge insult’. 

The victims’ families have backed calls for a public inquiry. Rishi Sunak has previously resisted them but it emerged on Monday night that he told the families at a meeting in Downing Street that he had not ruled one out.

Mr Webber’s father David said: ‘We did get an assurance from the Prime Minister himself that if it’s required, they’re not ruling out a public inquiry, and they will do a public inquiry.’ 

Speaking outside Number 10, Grace’s brother continued: ‘We’re not in a rush, we’ve lost our loved ones now, we’ve lost Grace, we’ve lost Ian [Coates], we’ve lost Barnaby [Webber] – we want [an investigation into the attacks] to be as thorough as possible to make sure those gaps are filled and the relevant people have been held accountable.

‘The Prime Minister said that there are plenty of options that could be taken [including] the public inquiry.’

Mr Coates’s son James said there had been failings by ‘all the different agencies’ involved in dealing with his father’s killer.

He said: ‘They all need looking into, obviously this is just the start.

‘I do feel listened to, I think we’ve spoke to the right people that can push this in the right direction, we now just have to wait.

‘It doesn’t matter how long it takes as long as it’s done properly – it has to be deep, it has to be detailed, it has to be independent. So we can get results, and everyone else can get results, because at the end of the day there’s a lot more people out there.’

The healthcare watchdog has been asked to report by March on its findings in an investigation into the care Calocane received at Nottinghamshire Healthcare Foundation Trust before the killings.

Health Secretary Victoria Atkins, announcing the Care Quality Commission (CQC) review, said it will provide quicker answers for the families of victims than a public inquiry.

However, Mr Webber’s parents told BBC Breakfast a review would be just a ‘toe in the water’ and ‘not enough’, as they called for a full public inquiry.

David Webber said he and his wife were ‘horrified’ there were no plans for an inquiry.

The families met Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at the party’s London headquarters earlier on Monday.

Mr Webber’s parents have said they want to speak with Janine McKinney from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS).

Mrs Webber told ITV’s Good Morning Britain she was ‘aghast’ at the opening statements from the prosecution barrister in court last week, adding: ‘I will never accept anything other than Barnaby was murdered.’

She also believes there were ‘no obvious’ signs of psychosis from Calocane on the day of the attack, and told of her concerns that he could be released if he responds well to treatment in hospital.

Judge Mr Justice Turner said Calocane will ‘very probably’ be detained in a high-security hospital for the rest of his life as he sentenced him for the ‘atrocious’ killings, as well as the attempted murder of three other people.

The Attorney General is considering whether judges should review the sentence after receiving a submission that it could be unduly lenient.

Asked why the Government had not set up a public inquiry, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘We haven’t ruled out further action at this stage. There is already work going on across Government.’