Grace O’Malley-Kumar’s parents demand inquiry into 'multiple failures that led to her death'

Grace O'Malley-Kumar was murdered by Valdo Calocane as he went on a rampage in Nottingham in June 2023, having been repeatedly sectioned but released before the attack

Grace O’Malley-Kumar’s parents want a Post Office-style statutory inquiry into the “multiple, systemic failures” that led to her death.

Sanjoy Kumar and Sinead O’Malley say psychiatrists, NHS leaders and police chiefs should be made to give evidence under oath. They have accused agencies of “catastrophic” failures that left Valdo Calocane free to kill their daughter in the Nottingham rampage.

The 32-year-old had been repeatedly sectioned but then discharged by mental health teams before the tragedy. One doctor warned three years before the knife attacks that the university student “could end up killing someone”.

The psychiatrist said the triple killer’s mental illness was so severe he was worried for the safety of other people. But despite the damning assessment, Calocane was released back into the community a fortnight later.

The psychiatrist’s report came during a stay in hospital under the Mental Health Act following arrests for breaking into flats. It noted: “There seems to be no insight or remorse. The danger is this will happen again and perhaps Valdo will end up killing someone.”

Calocane admitted in 2020 to lying to doctors about no longer hearing voices in his head so he could be discharged from hospital. He had no further contact with the mental health team after September 2022 when he was discharged back to his GP. The engineering student was on the run from police when he carried out the savage attacks in Nottingham.

Sanjoy, a GP, described the police investigation into the killings as “absolutely flawed to the core”. And he accused police and mental health teams of “gross negligence” in their handling of Calocane since 2020.

“It beggars belief,” he said. “At every point of contact, there was nothing but failure. For someone to be sectioned four times, and still be walking the streets, is absolutely abhorrent.

“We want psychiatrists to take responsibility for people they put out on the streets. Just like a surgeon takes responsibility for the operation he does on a patient - if he gets it wrong he gets blamed. If a psychiatrist hasn’t done a risk assessment that is appropriate, they should be held responsible if that person causes harm to the public.”

Sinead said: “This is why accountability is essential and a statutory inquiry is essential, so that people who have failed are held accountable. The only way that can happen is if they are made to attend and are made to answer questions and give evidence about their failings.

“Where people have failed in their duties and responsibilities, they need to be held legally accountable. Poor decision making or laziness leads to death and lack of public safety. It’s not acceptable.”

Sanjoy added: “When we met Keir Starmer he promised us a public inquiry. We would like a statutory public inquiry that has the power to call witnesses. It has not been clarified what kind of public inquiry it will be, but we definitely want the statutory word attached to it. We want the power to call people to give evidence, because there have been so many failures by so many organisations."

Sinead said: “Without change and improvements it’s pointless. Yes, legal accountability is at the forefront of our minds, but we also want change to be enacted as a result of this. Change in the police and especially change in the NHS and how they manage mental health patients.”

The couple were devastated when prosecutors accepted pleas to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. “You trust the system. We trusted the senior investigating officer, we trusted the CPS and we trusted the Chief Constable,” said Sanjoy.

“Then, all of a sudden, around two to three weeks before the pre-trial hearing, we were told he has the diminished responsibility option. We were told over a Teams meeting with the prosecuting barrister. We protested enormously and vigorously. We said it was completely unacceptable.

“This person knew what he was doing and we did not accept he was diminished in any way shape or form. He planned the attack. He had multiple weapons in his rucksack, he picked on people he probably perceived to be weaker than him. But they went ahead and accepted those pleas.

“We believe in law and order. Our country must not be known as a soft touch. It’s really important to us. We can only affect true change in Grace’s name if we get changes to the law. From homicide laws to changes in management of mentally ill patients and a code of conduct in police investigations.

“We’re asking the Mirror and the British public to get behind us and get the statutory inquiry. We really need help with it. Any parent who says goodbye to their child on a doorstep when they go off to school, they should know they are safe.

“It’s those parents whose backing we need. We want to affect change in the names of our children, so their children can be safe in the future. We have nothing else to gain. We have lost our daughter forever.”

Sanjoy and Sinead want Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable Kate Meynell held to account for her alleged failings. “What we want is an inquiry to hold her responsible in a legal way for her failings,” said Sanjoy.

“We want her to be in that box answering questions about her actions and inactions. Then we want the people of Nottingham and the people of the country to find her responsible.”