The family of a student killed in the Nottingham attacks have formally complained to the police watchdog over an “offensive” meeting with one of its directors.
Valdo Calocane killed Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates in a spate of attacks in the city in June 2023. He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order after pleading guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility as a result of paranoid schizophrenia and three counts of attempted murder.
It was announced in February that prosecutors, police and medical professionals would be scrutinised in the two-year inquiry, including the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
Grace’s father, Dr Sanjoy Kumar, said that an IOPC regional director had behaved inappropriately when the bereaved families met the watchdog in March 2024, including by starting the meeting with a prayer.
“I found it patronising and offensive,” Kumar told the Sunday Times. “I didn’t want a prayer, I wanted answers. I’ve lost my daughter and it was his job to give me the truth, not a prayer.
“There are plenty of places to pray and the IOPC isn’t one of them.”
The regional director at the meeting, Derrick Campbell, is now the watchdog’s director of engagement, the newspaper reported.
An IOPC spokesperson said: “We can confirm we’ve received a complaint about one of our directors and we are dealing with it in line with our complaints and feedback procedure.”
The watchdog previously prepared a report that concluded Leicestershire police officers had failed to properly investigate an assault on warehouse workers by Calocane which could have stopped his killing spree a month later. Three officers were due to face a misconduct meeting but the force postponed this.
In March, the IOPC said it would reinvestigate whether Calocane’s previous history and an outstanding arrest warrant were seen by officers before the investigation was closed down.
The watchdog said it had made its decision “after the force provided new evidence, which had not previously been available to the IOPC” and “representations by the bereaved families which led to further inquiries with Leicestershire police”.
