BBC News, Nottingham
More details on the judge-led public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks – which saw three people stabbed to death – have been announced in Parliament.
Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates were killed by Valdo Calocane in the city on 13 June 2023.
The deaths have prompted widespread criticism from the victims’ families over how authorities handled the case.
On Tuesday, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the inquiry would be chaired by Her Honour Deborah Taylor.
She said the statutory inquiry “will have the power to compel witnesses” and “must be thorough in its assessment of the facts”.
She added the full terms of reference would be placed in the libraries of both Houses “at the earliest opportunity”.
University of Nottingham students Mr Webber and Ms O’Malley-Kumar were fatally stabbed in Ilkeston Road, while Mr Coates was found dead with knife injuries in Magdala Road.
Calocane then used Mr Coates’s van to drive into three pedestrians – Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller – in the city centre.
Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia before the attacks, was sentenced to a hospital order in January 2024 after admitting three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and three counts of attempted murder.
At the time, Mr Webber’s mother Emma said “true justice has not been served”.
The case has prompted a number of reviews including a mental health homicide review, commissioned by NHS England.
It looked into the treatment given to Calocane by Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust before the killings, as well as interactions the NHS had with other agencies involved in his care.
The independent review found the “system had got it wrong” and identified other failings, including his risk not being “fully understood, managed documented or communicated”, prompting apologies from NHS England and the healthcare trust.
A review into the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) found while prosecutors had been right to accept Calocane’s pleas of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility, they could have handled the case better.
And in May last year, judges ruled Calocane’s sentence was not unduly lenient.
In addition, the Independent Office for Police Conduct is looking into prior contact that both Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire police forces had with Calocane.
The families of Mr Webber, Ms O’Malley-Kumar and Mr Coates met Prime Minister Keir Starmer to discuss plans for a judge-led public inquiry in February.
At the time, Sir Keir said it would “take place within weeks” and the families were told a “number of different agencies” would be scrutinised.
In a statement issued after the announcement on Tuesday, the three families said they had seen the draft terms of reference for the inquiry and proposed amendments to them.
“We are hopeful that when finalised, they will ensure this inquiry is able to get the answers to the questions we and many others have been asking,” they added.