08 May 2024 , 09:44
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A killer has come face to face with the victims' families this morning as they say they have 'no hope' his punishment will be changed.
Valdo Calocane's sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal in London by Attorney General Victoria Prentis after he was handed a hospital order for the manslaughter of Grace O'Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates.
Calocane was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the killings last June, experts told a court, and he couldn't be prosecuted for murder. Calocane should be given a “hybrid” order under Section 45A of the Mental Health Act instead of the hospital order, barristers for the Attorney General’s Office will tell the court.
Deanna Heer KC, representing the Attorney General's Office, said there was no criticism of Mr Justice Turner's conduct, but argued a "penal punishment" was needed due to the severity of Calocane's crimes. She said: "His culpability was not extinguished by his mental impairment. He knew what he was doing."
During the hearing this morning, Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, told the courtroom at the start of proceedings: "We do not intend to give judgement today, we will be reserving judgement."
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Grace O'Malley-Kumar was also killed in Nottingham last summer (PA)Speaking outside the Royal Courts of Justice following the Attorney General’s bid to change the sentence of Valdo Calocane, Emma Webber, mother of victim Barnaby Webber, said: “As families, we have not called for what has happened today, I think it is important to state that. But we are grateful to the Attorney General for taking the decision following the request to refer this as an unduly lenient sentence.
“We believe the system is flawed, in the investigations and in the prosecutions, so we are where we are today. We are hopeful that three very, very senior judges have listened to all of the information put forward on both sides.”
She continued: “Next week we will finally get some sort of answer but it is not closure, it is not a full stop. Like I say, the system is flawed, we should not be here, we should not be in this situation, our children should be alive and our father and grandfather should still be alive. It’s just an ongoing part of the struggle and the fight that we’re in.”
Ahead of the hearing this morning, the families of the victims released a statement saying they didn't think the hearing would be successful.
In a statement released before the hearing James Coates (Ian’s son), Sanjoy and Sinead O’Malley-Kumar (Grace’s mum and dad) and Emma and David Webber (Barney’s mum and dad) have hit out at Ms Prentis and say she referred the sentence "for the optics" and they have no hope that it will change.
They said: "Although we will be attending the hearing, we have no hope that the court will change the sentence. Having met with the AG’s legal team and our own adviser, it became clear to us that they do not believe in their own case and are pursuing this referral with absolutely no conviction.
Barnaby Webber was killed last summer during an attack in Nottingham (PA)"We are confused as to why they are proceeding with it. This decision was entirely the AG’s to make. She made it on her own with no consultation with us.
"We fear that she has done so merely to appease the public, for the optics of showing them that she is making some attempt to make up for what happened following this murderous crime and to pay mere lip service to us.
(left-right) James Coates, son of Ian Coates, Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby Webber and Dr Sanjoy Kumar, father of Grace O'Malley-Kumar (PA)"We will walk into court and leave it with our heads held high as we have always done. But we can only control what we can control. This is not our application to court and it is not our hearing.
"Our futures and the legacies of our loved ones will not be defined by the outcome of this review hearing. The monster has done what he has done and painfully for us it cannot be undone. Our criminal justice system supported him more than it supported Barney, Grace and Ian and us as families.
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Triple killer Valdo Calocane was given an indefinite hospital order for manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility (PA)"We are therefore now going to move forward to the next phase of our campaign and to ensure that their passing was not in vain and that they all leave a legacy for those to follow in making the world a safer place. As we say, we will control what we can control."
Speaking at the appeal hearing this morning, Deanna Heer KC, representing the Attorney General's Office said: "The harm caused and risk of harm risked to the public is extreme. Therefore the court is invited to consider whether a penal element was required and whether the sentencing judge erred. The impairment though substantial did not extinguish the culpability of the offender."
Peter Joyce KC, defending Calocane, said he had been "stricken by a dreadful condition". He said: "Any planning took place under the influence of the psychosis. I don't imagine for a moment that the court hasn't carefully read the evidence of the three expert psychologists. All agreed that but for the psychosis, these offences, none of them would have been committed and that has been in light of the evidence."
Mr Joyce KC claimed Calocane was bordering on no responsibility through insanity, adding: "He is to be punished for being mentally ill, and that is wrong."
Judgement has been reserved by The Lady Chief Justice, Baroness Carr, who said it would be handed down in the next seven days. "We recognise how distressing this case if for all concerned," Baroness Carr said, before added she hoped the court's judgement would be handed down within the next week.