The mother of one of the victims of the Nottingham attack told Sky News that it “felt like validation” to hear that the police themselves had believed the killings were murder rather than lesser charges.
Waldo Caloocan admitted murder and attempted murder, but said he was not guilty of murder due to diminished responsibility – a plea accepted by prosecutors.
But Emma Webber said senior investigating officers sat “in a corner” at Wednesday’s inquest and accepted that police thought it was murder – “there was planning, there was insight, there were culprits”.
talking to UK Tonight with Sarah-Jane MeeMs Webber said the case “went down a very different path” as specialist doctors, psychiatrists – and the CPS – got involved.
caloocan Ms Webber’s son Barnaby, her classmate Grace O’Malley-Kumar and caretaker Ian Coates were murdered In the early hours of 13 June 2023.
Caloocan also tried to kill three other people and was detained indefinitely in a psychiatric unit.
A public inquiry is looking at failings in the case, such as why Caloocan was still free despite being schizophrenic with a history of violence, having been subject to an outstanding arrest warrant.
If we look at the police investigation, Wednesday was the first day of interrogation.
Detective Superintendent Leigh Sanders, now retired, said he believed Caloocan acted “in a passive manner” and that he had used the word “murder” in documents following the violence.
Mr Sanders told the inquest, “For me there were elements of planning in relation to the murders. My view at the time was that he was not under duress.”
“He appeared to be making rational choices. My impression was that he was acting of his own free will… My view at the time was that I believed he had brutally murdered three people.”
Asked whether others on his team were upset that Caloocan avoided a jury trial, he replied: “There were officers who believed he had committed murder.”
Waldo Kolken was not prosecuted for murder. Photo: PA
The former officer also apologized to the families for not taking a hair sample to test Calocan for possible drug use when he was arrested.
Lawyers suggested this was due to the killer’s lack of consent and cited an email which said this was not done “because the defendant had no history of drug abuse”.
Mr Sanders told the inquiry that he “probably” should have conducted an investigation as it would have refuted Caloocan’s final plea of reduced responsibility.
However, he said a sample would not be able to show “drugs or alcohol in the system at a specific time or date.”
‘Shocked and horrified’
“It was a bit hard to swallow because we’ve been pleading and begging for this forever,” Emma Webber told Sky News.
“The toxicology, the toxicology strategy – or the lack thereof, has been a very hot point for us,” he said.
“Keep in mind, this is a person whose nails were scratched and they mapped his body. But they failed to take any intimate sample, which could be blood or urine, and they also failed to take a non-intimate sample of hair.”
The inquiry is in its fourth week and is due to run until June – with the report due next year.
It has already heard how police failed to execute the warrant to arrest Caloocan, which was issued more than nine months before the murders, because he missed a court hearing.
A month before the attacks he had gone to attack two co-workers at a factory in Leicestershire, but was not arrested by Leicestershire Police at the time.
Ms Webber said she was shocked by the evidence at the inquest.
“Every day, without exception, we are exposed to more information that has left us shocked and horrified.
“Sometimes not just the evidence, but the manner of the witnesses. And I would say arrogance and refusal to acknowledge obvious failings.”
