Inquiry hears 999 call reporting 'awful' stabbings

A witness cried and told a 999 operator "my God that's awful" as he reported students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar had been stabbed in Nottingham, a public inquiry into the attacks has heard.

The 19-year-olds were killed by Valdo Calocane before he fatally stabbed 65-year-old Ian Coates and tried to kill three others on 13 June 2023.

On Thursday, the inquiry was played recordings from two unnamed witnesses who called emergency services to report the attacks on Barnaby and Grace in Ilkeston Road.

One of the first calls received by Nottinghamshire Police began: "There's been a stabbing on Ilkeston Road. There's somebody lying in the street. I think they're dead."

The male caller said "oh, that was awful", repeating this a number of times as he became more emotional as the call went on.

He told the operator he saw a black man with a black bag, all dressed in black, go up Ilkeston Road towards the town centre.

The man described how there was an injured man who appeared to be in his 20s lying in the middle in the road.

He said: "Blood all over their chest", and said again: "My God, that's awful."

The caller, who explained he was looking out of his bedroom window from 500m away, said: "I heard lots of screaming and looked out of the window. I think he's dead, he's not moved a muscle."

When the operator asked if there only one victim, the caller said a girl had also been stabbed.

He said: "She was sat in a driveway of one of the eco-houses over the road but I think she's wandered off down the road. She was bleeding from the stomach. He stabbed both of them."

The caller began crying as the operator asked him what the girl was wearing.

The series of 999 calls were played as Supt Simon Allardice gave evidence on the 12th day of the inquiry, which is being chaired by retired senior judge Deborah Taylor KC.

In a call made at about the same time - just after 04:00 BST - a woman told an operator there were two people "in the road".

She said: "I don't know if they've been stabbed. A girl and a guy. I think they've been robbed or something.

"I heard them scream and I went there and I looked out the window and I saw someone. There's two people lying down there."

She said: "There's a guy and a girl. They're not too old. I don't know if they're OK. Could you please come? They're lying down on the road right now."

The caller said the offender had "walked off" and told police he was wearing a hoodie.

She said: "He's gone. I can't see him anywhere in the road. But there's a person lying down right there. He's still there."

She added: "I'm afraid to go out there alone right now."

The woman told the operator that she had filmed what she saw.

Earlier, chairwoman Taylor told the inquiry that she had viewed the footage of the "brutal attack" on the students, but that this would not be played in the inquiry.

Allardice added some of the 999 calls made on that night had been lost as they were not recorded due to a "technical issue".

The inquiry also saw CCTV footage which mapped out Calocane walking across Nottingham after killing Barnaby and Grace, and then proceeding to drive Ian Coates's van through the city after killing him.

After attacking Barnaby and Grace, Calocane walked about 1.5 miles (2.4km) across the city to Seely House, a hostel in Mapperley Road, where at about 05:00, he attempted to get in.

By then, searches for a suspect had been directed towards the city centre, but Calocane had moved in another direction.

CCTV footage showed Calocane talking to a worker at the hostel before attempting to get in through a window.

It was heard earlier in the inquiry that he was asked to leave, which he did, before coming back shortly after and banging on a window.

At about 05:14, Calocane killed 65-year-old Ian in Magdala Road, around the corner from Seely House.

Calocane was then captured on CCTV driving Ian's van into the city centre and at 05:26, the force received a call reporting a hit-and-run.

That was when survivor Wayne Birkett was run down, causing a brain injury that left him with no memory of his life before the attack.

It was within minutes that two officers were behind Calocane in a police car and followed him as he then ran over Sharon Miller and Marcin Gawronski, who survived.

At about 05:33, police approached Calocane while he was in the van in Bentinck Street and he was subsequently arrested.

The inquiry will continue to examine the judgements and decisions made by police in their response on the day.

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