Missed Chances: Calocane's Mental Health Crisis

0:00UK's story is making news on February 26th brought to you by NordVPN. If you use public Wi-Fi or care about your privacy online, NordVPN helps keep your connection secure across all your devices, links in the episode description. A public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks has heard new details about Valdo Calican's behavior three years earlier. Back on May 24th, 2020, the 23-year-old tried to force his way into a woman's student flat while she was showering. Terrified, she jumped from a first-four window about 10-12 feet up, fracturing her spine and needing surgery. Police had arrested Calican earlier that day for criminal damage to another door in the same building, but officers admitted they did not give it. Enough attention. Body camera footage from their first arrest is now missing. Instead of charging him for the break-in attempt, they took him to a mental health unit. The woman, still in constant pain from her injuries, told the inquiry police visited her in hospital and praised her bravery.

1:02They warned she was lucky to escape as Calican could have killed or seriously hurt her. She felt upset and angry when they explained he could not be prosecuted due to his schizophrenia. Fast forward to June 2023, and Calican went on to kill two 19-year-old university of Nottingham students, Barnaby Weber, and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, plus 65-year-old caretaker Ian Coats. He also tried to murder three others before admitting manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility and getting an indefinite hospital order in, January 2024. This testimony highlights mischances in handling Calican's mental health crises, as the inquiry led by Deborah Taylor continues to uncover what, when wrong and pushes for better safeguards moving forward.