Inquiry hears psychiatrist did not detain Nottingham killer after 2022 flatmate assault

An inquiry has heard that a psychiatrist decided not to detain Valdo Calocane under the Mental Health Act after he assaulted a flatmate in Nottingham in January 2022.

The doctor said Calocane was able to return home after the assessment, despite concerns about his mental state.

Dr Mike Skelton, a consultant psychiatrist with Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, told the inquiry that Calocane "wished to take control" during the assessment.

The hearing was told the decision followed a police callout to Faraday Road, where Calocane had put a flatmate into a headlock and taken him hostage.

The assessment took place the day after the incident, with police using a warrant to remove Calocane and carry out the examination.

Fifteen officers were deployed, and medical staff asked police to remain because of safety concerns.

The evidence matters because it adds detail to the handling of Calocane's risk before the fatal attacks in June 2023, when he stabbed Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates, and tried to kill three others.

Calocane had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020.

The inquiry was also told Skelton had previous familiarity with Calocane from earlier mental health proceedings.

He had attended meetings about Calocane when he was released from two periods under section of the Mental Health Act at Highbury Hospital in August 2020, and during a seclusion review in September 2021 after an assault on a police officer.

During that earlier review, Skelton said he stood at Calocane's door and asked questions without making eye contact because of fears for his own safety and that of other staff.

Calocane was described at the time as "clearly very psychotic", with a "guarded, curt, fixed staring" manner and a "hostile edge".

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