LABOUR leader Keir Starmer has pledged to initiate a judge-led inquiry into the Nottingham attacks if his party wins the upcoming election.
He also highlighted numerous instances where victims and their families have been failed by the system.
Last year, Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and Ian Coates were fatally stabbed by Valdo Calocane, who was subsequently given a hospital order after admitting to manslaughter due to paranoid schizophrenia.
Emma Webber, the mother of Barnaby, confronted Starmer during a listener call-in on LBC, asking, “If you do get into Downing Street, what are your thoughts about following through with the call for a public inquiry, or possibly a jury and judge-led inquest? And also your thoughts please on the urgent need to reform our homicide laws and also the victim support in this country? Which from bitter experience, I can confirm is woeful and very inadequate.”
In response, Starmer expressed his commitment to the inquiry, acknowledging the horrific experiences of the families involved. “She wants a judge-led inquiry and I said when I met her that I thought that was the right way forward, and we would do that,” he said.
He shared his concern upon hearing how the system had failed the families regarding the charges, communication, and other critical aspects.
Listening to the families’ experiences was “really difficult,” he said, reinforcing his determination to ensure such failures are not repeated.
“My resolve is to ensure that we have that inquiry and make sure that that doesn’t happen to anyone else. I’ve had too many examples of victims and family members being let down. We have to improve here,” Starmer was quoted as saying.
“I think somebody outside of this, independent, needs to look at exactly what happened, what were the points at which there could have been an intervention and why it didn’t happen. That is the least that these families are owed," the Labour leader said earlier this year.
Calocane’s violent spree in Nottingham last June claimed the lives of three and injured three others.
Following Calocane’s sentencing in January, Webber’s family expressed dissatisfaction, stating that “true justice has not been served.”
Calocane received a hospital order instead of a prison sentence. The attorney general considered the sentence too lenient and referred it to the court of appeal, suggesting a hybrid order where Calocane would be imprisoned if deemed fit for discharge from the hospital. This application was rejected.
The victims’ families have consistently demanded a public inquiry to explore missed opportunities to prevent Calocane’s attacks.
Sanjoy Kumar, Grace O’Malley-Kumar’s father, asserted, “We have to have a public inquiry. These individual investigations that have been set up will not change legislation, and they will not change the status quo.”
Karan Johar and Smriti Irani