'Confront failure and fix it': Families speak ahead of Nottingham attacks inquiry

The public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks will be a "test of whether this country is prepared to confront failure and fix it", the victims' families have said.

The judge-led inquiry is due to examine events leading up to the killing of Ian Coates, 65, and 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar by Valdo Calonane in June 2023.

Evidence will be heard relating to the actions of agencies that had previously dealt with Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

Barnaby's mother Emma Webber has called for "accountability right down to an individual level" at the statutory public inquiry in London, which is due to run until May.

Calocane is serving a hospital order after pleading guilty to three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and three counts of attempted murder.

The families affected have always been unhappy with that outcome.

Ahead of the first day of hearings, Emma Webber read a statement on behalf of the victims' families outside the inquiry venue in London.

She said: "Today is not simply the start of an inquiry, it is a test of whether this country is prepared to confront failure and fix it.

"For years we have heard apologies. We have seen reviews, we have read reports, but apologies do not keep the public safe - change does.

"We are not here for sympathy, we are here for safeguards, not reflection, not regret. Reform.

"That is the legacy Barnaby, Grace and Ian deserve, and that is what public safety now demands."

Earlier she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme she anticipated the next nine weeks would be "brutal".

"It's been everything we've fought for nearly three years," she said. "Now that it's here it does feel overwhelming, but it does feel like the time is now.

"So much went so wrong across every single institution, but in simple words we need the proper truth to come out now.

"We need proper accountability right down to an individual level for those who failed and haven't done their job properly."

"We have to insist that there are changes in practice in every single institution and organisation, and that will add up to sweeping changes that will benefit everyone."

Families 'climbed mountains'

Calocane had previously been under the care of Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and had been known to police before he carried out the attacks.

Since his sentencing, a series of reviews of criticisms have emerged, highlighting serious failings into into his care.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer eventually agreed to the inquiry last year, after lobbying from the survivors and bereaved families.

The Nottingham Inquiry is being chaired by retired judge Her Honour Deborah Taylor and is expected to hear evidence until the end of May.

Taylor said of the bereaved families and survivors: "In getting to this point, they've climbed mountains only to find that they reached false summit after false summit."

The inquiry will examine what "was, could, or should've been done".

While a number of reviews and investigations have taken place into individual organisation, the inquiry will examine the events leading up to the attacks as a whole.

And despite those earlier reviews, the victims' families previously said a statutory inquiry - which meant witnesses were compelled to give evidence - was the level of accountability they wanted.

Once all evidence has been heard, the chair will have two years to set out a final report and make recommendations.