The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has begun an investigation into the contact Leicestershire Police had with Nottingham stabbings triple killer Valdo Calocane.
In a statement, the watchdog said it had launched an independent investigation after requesting further information from Leicestershire Police, following a referral from the force on Monday relating to inquiries into assaults Calocane is alleged to have committed in May last year.
The IOPC statement said: “Our investigation will consider the actions and decisions of Leicestershire Police, focusing on their response to the alleged assaults.
“We will also examine whether any person serving with the force may have behaved in a manner which would justify disciplinary proceedings.”
The IOPC’s announcement comes three days after the Attorney General ordered an independent review of the Crown Prosecution Service’s decision to accept paranoid schizophrenic Calocane’s guilty pleas to manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility, and whether it sufficiently consulted with his victims’ families.
Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order last week for stabbing to death university students Barnaby Webber, 19, and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, in the early hours of June 13 last year.
He also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of three people who were hit by a van stolen from Mr Coates.
Mr Webber’s family, from Somerset, have described the hospital order as a “huge insult” and called for a public inquiry into the case.
Speaking after the Nottingham Crown Court sentencing hearing, Mr Webber’s mother Emma Webber said the bereaved families were “presented with a fait accompli that the decision had been made to accept manslaughter charges” when they met prosecutors last November.
It emerged during Calocane’s sentencing hearing that in early May last year – around five weeks before the killings – he was accused of attacking two employees at a warehouse in Kegworth, Leicestershire.
The IOPC said a similar referral into previous contact with Calocane made by Nottinghamshire Police remained under consideration.
Commenting on the inquiry into Leicestershire Police’s contact with Calocane, IOPC regional director Derrick Campbell said: “First and foremost, my thoughts and sympathies go to Barnaby’s, Grace’s and Ian’s families and friends, and everyone who has understandably been affected by the tragic deaths and the injuries sustained in June last year.
“Our investigation will be thorough and completely independent of the police.
“We will be looking at whether the investigation into the alleged assaults was progressed properly and whether this presents any opportunity for individual or organisational learning.”
Inspectors examining the actions of the Crown Prosecution Service in relation to Calocane have said they will publish their report on March 25.
His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) Deputy Chief Inspector Anthony Rogers said: “This was a horrific and tragic case and I would like to offer my deepest sympathies to all of Valdo Calocane’s victims, and their families and friends, whose lives have been torn apart by his brutal and senseless attacks.
“It is now our job to diligently and objectively review the CPS’s actions and as part of that, we will be writing to the bereaved families so that we can understand their concerns.”
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