Valdo Calocane had been suffering from extreme mental illness for years before he launched his violent rampage through the streets of Nottingham in June last year, and questions are now being asked about why he was not under closer supervision.
The 32-year-old has paranoid schizophrenia, and for years experienced psychotic delusions in which he believed he was being targeted by “malign forces” and agencies such as MI5 who were controlling his thoughts and actions.
Despite alarming warning signs – including numerous violent outbursts and a plea for MI5 to arrest him – he evaded authorities for months and had been left untreated for almost a year at the time he killed three people and attempted to kill three others.
Dr Sanjoy Kumar, the father of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, said her killer had misled psychiatrists and that the failure to formally charge him for a number of previous violent incidents was a “missed opportunity” that may have “altered his course”.
The case has disturbing similarities to that of Zephaniah McLeod, who killed 23-year-old Jacob Billington and injured seven others in a violent and random stabbing spree in Birmingham in September 2020.
He was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and a report on his treatment found he had been released from prison months before the attack with no restrictions or supervision despite experiencing delusions and refusing to take medication.
Here is a timeline of Calocane’s engagement with mental health services, and the chances to stop him before he turned to violence.
23 May 2020
It is thought the symptoms of Calocane’s schizophrenia began in 2019, but he first came into contact with mental health services in May 2020 when he went to A&E believing he was having a heart attack. Afterwards he returned to his home in Nottingham and knocked down a door to another apartment in his block.
He was arrested for criminal damage, and assessed as psychotic when taken in to custody, but released without charge. On returning home, he almost immediately knocked down another apartment door. He was arrested and, this time, sectioned.
14 July 2020
Less than a month after being discharged, Calocane was hospitalised again after he stopped taking his medication and broke into another apartment. He was discharged on 31 July, then managed in the community by an early intervention psychosis team, and his medication was increased.
May 2021
The following year, Calocane’s family reported that his mental health had deteriorated and that he had reported hearing voices telling him his family members would die. But he was “actively concealing symptoms of psychosis” from medics, prosecutor Karim Khalil KC told the court. He admitted he had stopped taking his medication and had no intention of continuing his treatment.
3 September 2021
After evading contact with a community mental health team, a warrant was issued for a search of Calocane’s property. Eight months’ worth of unused medication was found and his behaviour was hostile.
He was sectioned again, and assaulted a police officer while being transported to Highbury hospital in Nottingham. After being released in October, he missed mental health appointments and often appeared confrontational, Khalil said.
January 2022
Calocane was involved in an altercation with his flatmate, and on 27 January he was sectioned again, for three weeks, after failing to engage with at-home mental health services. It was later found that Calocane first started buying weapons in 2022 as voices were telling him to harm others, psychiatrists said.
31 May 2022
Calocane travelled to London and attempted to hand himself in to MI5, who he believed were controlling him, at their Thames House headquarters, urging them to “please arrest me”.
July 2022
A community mental health service prompted Calocane to collect his medication, but he lied and said he was out of the country. On 4 August, a mental health team visited his discharge address but were told Calocane no longer lived there.
22 September 2022
Calocane was due to appear in court for the assault of the police officer in September 2021, but he failed to attend and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
That warrant was still outstanding nine months later when he was arrested for the attacks in Nottingham, and police have admitted they should have done more to track him down.
13 June 2023
Khalil said Calocane was “unmedicated and out of touch with psychiatric services for almost 12 months” in June last year when he carried out the attacks. He claims he committed the crimes because voices in his head told him to, and he hadn’t sought help because he believed the doctors who had been treating him were involved in controlling him.
