Court of Appeal to review Nottingham attacker's sentence later
The Attorney General ruled Valdo Calocane's indefinite hospital could be "unduly lenient" earlier this year.
The sentence of the man responsible for the Nottingham attacks will be reviewed by the court of appeal today (8th May 2024).
Valdo Calocane stabbed students 19-year-old Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar, 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, with a dagger in Nottingham in the early hours of June 13 last year, and attempted to kill three others.
In January, he was given an indefinite hospital order for manslaughter by diminished responsibility, after Nottingham Crown Court heard he had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.
Attorney General Victoria Prentis said in February she would refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal for reconsideration, after concluding it was "unduly lenient".
Three Court of Appeal judges will hear arguments from the senior treasury counsel representing the Attorney General and Calocane's barrister.
Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby Webber said the Coates, Webber and O'Malley-Kumar families were now putting their trust in the office of the Attorney General to present an "open, challenging and much more thorough representation than witnessed before".
She said: "We trust that it will be proven, as we strongly believe, that whilst Calocane is clearly mentally unwell he was present and culpable enough at the time leading up to, during and after the attack to prove there was intent on his part.
"This is an important step for our united families, however we still have a great deal ahead of us with the numerous investigations into the failures of both Nottinghamshire Police Force and Nottinghamshire Health Trust.
"We remain resolute that we will not be silenced or stopped in our pursuit of appropriate justice and proper accountability."
Mrs Webber also criticised the "grandiose theatrics" of Calocane's barrister, Peter Joyce KC, in mitigation during the defendant's sentencing hearing.
Mr Joyce said schizophrenia had "stalked down" a man of previously impeccable character and behaviour.
He described Calocane as "a man who prior to being smitten" by mental illness "was wholly law-abiding, was hard-working, put himself through university and was doing his very, very best to become a meaningful member of society".