The families of the Nottingham attack victims have declared they are now “family” after two years of fighting for justice.
Speaking to GB News presenter Martin Daubney in Nottingham, the families marked the two-year anniversary of the triple murder carried out by Valdo Calocane.
Reflecting on the losses of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates, the families told the People’s Channel that Calocane is a “monster” who was not prevented by authorities from carrying out such an atrocity.
Paying tribute to his father, Jamie Coates said he passes by the spot his dad Ian was murdered on a “weekly basis”.
The families of the victims of the Nottingham attack have declared they are ‘family now’ after two years of fighting for justice
GB News
Coates said: “This spot in particular, I have to come past here every single week, so it’s nothing that I can really forget about. I try and put a positive on it, I don’t count it as the place he was murdered, but as the place where he had his last rest.
“Every time I drive past or walk by, or even on the adjacent street, I always look up just expecting to see him or to see some flowers, or just see anything other than just it being empty. I’m really honoured to have everybody that’s made this journey here today, and I want to remember it as a positive thing and not a negative.”
Highlighting the unification of the families in such tragedy, mother of Barnaby Webber, Emma, told Martin that they will “fight for justice, no matter how long it takes”.
Webber stated: “Barnaby and Grace had to endure most awful horror, unforgivable and unfathomable, minutes away from safety on such a busy road. And it’s well documented, the failures, but we’ve come together united by this awful tragedy.
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Martin joined the three families of Nottingham attack victims Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Ian Coates and Barnaby Webber
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“These guys are family now, and whatever it takes, for however long it takes, we will get justice, because he’s not serving the right sentence. He’s not serving a sentence at all, but more importantly, all of the failures and all of those who just didn’t do their jobs properly, we just want the truth and the right thing needs to be done.”
Opening up on his experience revisiting the spot where his brother was murdered, Charlie Webber admitted it has become “the worst place on earth” for him to visit.
Webber told Martin: “This is probably the worst place on earth for us. That road, it’s really hard to go to. I think for the wrong reasons, it’s nice to come here and lay down those flowers, so we can remember everything that happened two years ago here today.
“And I haven’t been to this road before, so it’s really nice to come here as well and remember Ian, as well as Grace and Barnaby.”
Discussing the next steps for the family, Grace O’Malley-Kumar’s father Dr Sanjoy Kumar told Martin that the families have “not had a moment’s peace” in those two years since the murders took place.
Webber told Martin that they ‘will get justice’, no matter ‘how long it takes’
GB News
Kumar explained: “These two years, they’ve not flown for me, to me it still feels like yesterday. And the reason is because we’ve not had, as families, a moment’s peace. We have fought from minute one, of the police telling us there’s nothing they could have done when this man, this monster was wanted on a warrant.
“And they said that nothing could have been done. From that moment on, we have fought to get information that we’re entitled to. I said to Wes Streeting in my meeting with him, it is in your power to bring mental health related homicide to an end.”
Kumar added: “If you hold people responsible, this will not happen. This happens because this man was sectioned four times, they didn’t change his treatment, they put a man who was risky out in the community, and they did it four times over. So we need accountability. Without that, we will not move forward.”
Barnaby Webber’s father David concluded: “I had to take myself away at one point because it’s just hard to believe that’s where my son and his beautiful friend Grace fell. He’s [Calocane] just such a monster.
“I’m so heartbroken that we’re here, and we’re like family now, but for all the wrong reasons.”