A senior retired judge who jailed former tennis star Boris Becker after he avoided paying his debts is set to chair the inquiry into the Nottingham attacks, MPs have been told.
Deborah Taylor was the resident judge at Southwark Crown Court and the recorder of Westminster until her retirement in 2022, and also jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for breaching his bail conditions in 2019.
During a meeting with the Prime Minister in February, the families of the Nottingham attack victims were told a judge-led statutory inquiry would take place and that it would scrutinise a “number of different agencies”.
Valdo Calocane killed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, before attempting to kill three other people in a spate of attacks in the city in June 2023.
He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder.
In the House of Commons on Tuesday, the victims’ families watched as Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced Ms Taylor would be chairing the inquiry.
Shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said he fully supported the commissioning of the probe.
Ms Mahmood described Ms Taylor as a “very experienced, senior retired judge” and that she would be meeting the victims’ families.
She said the inquiry chairwoman would make sure the probe worked “at pace” and that it would make its findings “as quickly as possible”.
Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby Webber, said: “Barney, Grace and Ian have paid the ultimate price for this shameful level of incompetence, and that must not be in vain.
“Over the course of the inquiry the truth will out. Wrongs will be righted. We will make sure of that, whatever it takes, however we have to do it, and for as long as we must.
“Unlike many, we have nothing to fear, nothing to hide or embellish.
“We call for all involved across all agencies who are called forward to finally do the right thing.
“Tell the truth, admit fault if they must, accept any professional address should there be any, and allow this to be the moment that makes proper change for this country.”
