Nottingham attacks detective apologises to families for not taking hair sample
He's giving evidence at the Nottingham Inquiry after Valdo Calocane killed three people in Nottingham City Centre in June 2023
The detective in charge of the inquiry into the Nottingham attacks has apologised to bereaved families for a decision not to take a hair sample to test Valdo Calocane for possible drug use.
Detective Superintendent Leigh Sanders, who has now retired but was the senior investigating officer for the triple killing and the attempted murder of three van attack victims, told a public inquiry that he believed Calocane had acted “in cold blood”.
Giving evidence to the inquiry on Wednesday, Mr Sanders, the former head of the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said he had used the word “murder” in documentation in the aftermath of the June 2023 attacks.
The inquiry has heard how Calocane, a former mechanical engineering student, fatally stabbed University of Nottingham undergraduates Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, on Ilkeston Road, Nottingham, in the early hours of June 13 2023.
He went on to kill grandfather Ian Coates, 65, in the Mapperley Park area around an hour later, stealing his van and using it to run over pedestrians at two locations in Nottingham city centre.
Calocane, who admitted manslaughter and attempted murder, is detained indefinitely in a high-security hospital after prosecutors accepted his not guilty pleas to murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility in January 2024.
Answering questions from counsel to the inquiry Rachel Langdale KC, Mr Sanders was asked why he had used the term murderer in regard to Calocane.
The retired officer said: “My belief was based on the investigations that we had undertaken in relation to VC.
“For me there were elements of planning in relation the killings. My view at that time was he didn’t seem to be under duress.
“He appeared to be making rational choices.
“My impression was that he was acting of his own free will.
“As an operational police officer my view at that time was that I believed he had murdered in cold blood three people.”
During questioning about the issue of diminished responsibility and its links to a police evidence recovery plan, it was put to Mr Sanders that toxicology samples had not been taken because of a lack of consent from Calocane.
After being questioned about an email which said a hair sample was not taken from Calocane “as the defendant had no history” of drug abuse, Mr Sanders told the inquiry: “I have apologised in my statement for that.
“In hindsight perhaps I should have obtained a copy of head hair whilst he was in custody because to do so would at least have alleviated some of the fears of the families… in relation to what could have happened in relation to the negation of the possible defence of diminished responsibility.”
Asked what the value of a hair sample could have been, Mr Sanders said he understood that a sample showing the presence of drugs could have provided rebuttal for the concept of diminished responsibility
But the ex-officer added that a sample of hair “would not be able to provide analysis that showed drugs or alcohol in the system at a specific time or date”.
Calocane had deceived health professionals, Mr Sanders said, adding of the decision relating to a hair sample: “I apologise that we didn’t do it.”
Extending the apology to the parents of Barnaby and Grace, Mr Sanders described them as individuals who had “very eloquently” raised their concerns.
The inquiry continues.