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AN NHS mental health trust which discharged a paranoid schizophrenic months before he murdered three people is to be investigated for manslaughter.
Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is facing the 'unprecedented' probe after it discharged Valdo Calocane despite his history of violence, threats to kill and refusal to take medication.
He had been under the care of the trust for two years, during which time he was sectioned four times, but was discharged in September 2022 when he stopped turning up for appointments and staff could not find him.
In June 2023 he stabbed students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and Ian Coates, a 65-year-old school caretaker.
He also tried to kill three pedestrians by mowing them down with a van leaving them with serious injuries.
Detectives from Northumbria police - the force carrying out the inquiry - are said to have informed the trust's bosses and told them to preserve all records related to the attacks.
Corporate manslaughter carries the penalty of unlimited fines. It involves allegations of serious failings resulting in a breach of duty of care.
If prosecuted, it would be the first time a trust has faced charges over the actions of a patient released into the community.
Josh Hughes, a partner and head of complex injury at Bolt Burdon Kemp, a law firm, told The Times: 'The wider ramifications for the delivery of mental health services in this country would be profound.'
Emma Webber, mother of University of Nottingham history student Barnaby, said the police investigation signifies the 'unprecedented move' would send 'much-needed shockwaves across our public services, and in particular the NHS'.
She said: 'This has to be the line in the sand – when those who fail, neglect and cover up, from the leaders at the top down, are fully held to account and made to recognise their failures.
'This includes chief executives, chairmen of the board, non-executive and executive board members, as well as the negligent clinicians, practitioners and hospital managers who over a sustained period failed to manage and recognise the threat posed by Valdo Calocane.
'They chose to allow him to dictate what was happening, and therefore failed to treat a man who refused treatment, allowing him to go on to commit the murder and take the lives of three innocent souls.'
She added: 'This statement today brings us no joy, but it does signify the beginning of the reckoning – in Barney's memory, in Grace's memory and in Ian's memory, and for the protection of those in the future who could face another Valdo Calocane.
'We now ask that, for the first time, all of those involved who will be required to participate do so with full candour and transparency.'
A public inquiry, which finished hearing evidence in May, was told he had been discharged to his GP in 2022 because he failed to turn up for appointments and the team had 'lost' him.
Speaking about the discharge decision NHS trust team leader Emma Robinson said: 'We couldn't work with him, we couldn't find him at this point.'
Police are also understood to be investigating attacks by other patients before Calocane's rampage and whether the trust's leadership took appropriate measures to stop future incidents, the Times reported.
In the previous four years there were 15 other serious violent attacks by present or former patients of the same trust, including a man who stabbed his father to death.
The force is carrying out the inquiry after Nottinghamshire police was heavily criticised for its handling of the case and its failure to arrest Calocane before the attacks.
Calocane, who admitted manslaughter and attempted murder, was detained indefinitely in a high-security hospital instead of prison after prosecutors accepted his not guilty pleas to murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility in January 2024 - to the anger of the victims' families who had been told he would be sent to prison.
Nottinghamshire police has also been criticised over its failure to arrest him before the attacks, despite him being the subject of an arrest warrant.
The public inquiry was held following a campaign by the victims' families. It heard there were repeated failings by both the police and the NHS.
Former Chief Constable Kate Meynell told the inquiry the failure to apprehend Calocane before his killing was 'unacceptable'.
He had been the subject of an arrest warrant issued in September 2022, but Meynell said the warrant went into an inbox that was not monitored regularly.
The public inquiry into the attacks, which lasted more than three months and heard from 164 witnesses, finished in June and chairwoman Her Honour Deborah Taylor is expected to report back with her findings and recommendations next year.
A spokesperson for Northumbria Police said: 'Our thoughts are very much with the victims, their families and all those impacted by the tragic events in Nottingham in June 2023.
'We can confirm we are subsequently carrying out an investigation on behalf of Nottinghamshire Police.
'We are in contact with the victims' families and survivors and are committed to supporting them throughout this process.
'It would not be appropriate for us to comment any further.'
In a statement, NHFT said it would be 'co-operating fully' with the police investigation.
A spokesman said: 'Northumbria Police, acting on behalf of Nottinghamshire Police, have begun an investigation into matters relating to the care and treatment of Valdo Calocane.
'We know how important the independent inquiry and police investigation are for the affected families, the survivors and our local communities.
'We will, of course, be co-operating fully with Northumbria Police, as we have with the Statutory Inquiry into these matters which is being chaired by Her Honour Deborah Taylor, and which will hear final submissions from all the parties involved later this year.'
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