NHS staff may have illegally accessed records of Nottingham attack victims

Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates were killed by Valdo Calocane in Nottingham in June 2023. Photograph: Nottinghamshire Police

An NHS trust is investigating allegations that healthcare staff illegally accessed medical records belonging to the Nottingham attack victims.

The medical director at Nottingham university hospitals NHS trust [NUH] has apologised to the families, and vowed to “take action as necessary”.

Valdo Calocane killed two 19-year-old students, Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and Ian Coates, a 65-year-old caretaker, before attempting to kill three other people in the city in June 2023.

Dr Manjeet Shehmar, medical director at NUH, said in a statement supplied to the Guardian on Thursday: “We are currently investigating concerns that members of staff may have inappropriately accessed the medical records of Ian Coates, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and Barnaby Webber.

“We have informed the families and will continue to keep them updated throughout the investigation.

“The families of Ian, Grace and Barnaby have already had to endure much pain and heartache and I’m truly sorry that this will add further to their suffering.

“Through our investigation, we will find out what happened and will not hesitate to take action as necessary.”

Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder.

Last month the prime minister, Keir Starmer, told the families that a judge-led public inquiry will take place in “a matter of weeks”.

Starmer said the inquiry would scrutinise a “number of different agencies” and a retired judge would soon be appointed to lead the process.

An NHS England report on the mental health care Calocane received before the attacks found his treatment “was not always sufficient to meet his needs” and risk assessments failed to consider the “potential acts of violence” that could result from his failure to take medication.