Mother of Valdo Calocane Criticizes Mental Health System at Inquiry
The mother of Valdo Calocane, the man responsible for the Nottingham attacks, has described the system intended to support him as "so broken" during a public inquiry.
Valdo Calocane, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020, fatally stabbed Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar, and Ian Coates, and attempted to kill three others in a series of attacks on 13 June 2023.
Celeste Calocane, Valdo's mother, spoke at the Nottingham Inquiry, which is investigating the circumstances surrounding the attacks. She detailed her experience attempting to navigate mental health services that she did not fully understand, while her son was sectioned four times over two years.
The inquiry was informed that Celeste had expressed concerns about her son's potential risk to the public three years prior to the fatal incidents.
Valdo, whose family resides in Wales, was living and studying in Nottingham when he experienced his first psychotic episode, the inquiry heard.
Born in Guinea-Bissau in 1991, Valdo lived in Madeira and Lisbon, Portugal, during early childhood before relocating to the UK at age 16.
Celeste recounted becoming aware of her son's distress in 2020, noting that he began calling the family "agitated and crying."
In May 2020, Valdo was arrested after attempting to break into a neighbour's flat, leading to his initial admission to Highbury Hospital's psychiatric ward in Nottingham on 25 May.
Celeste said she was informed at that time that there was "no diagnosis" because it was his first episode.
Valdo was discharged on 13 June, but Celeste felt this was "too early". She stated she had "no power" to intervene beyond consenting to hospital admissions.
Following his discharge on 11 July, Celeste contacted Valdo's mental health crisis team to express concern about his deteriorating condition. The only response was a phone call to Valdo, with no further action taken.
Two days later, the crisis team informed Celeste that Valdo had again attempted to break into a neighbour's flat.
In August 2020, Celeste raised concerns that Valdo posed a risk to others.
When asked if anyone discussed these concerns with her, she replied:
"I just had to navigate the system myself and try to make sense of what is going on."
She added that no one explained the risks involved, what signs to watch for, or potential outcomes.
"I was just navigating the system on my own,"
Celeste also stated that no one addressed Valdo's risk to himself.
"At this point I don't even know what can happen to him. I'm just like living in anxiety basically,"
Later in the day, Celeste addressed the inquiry chair, retired senior judge Deborah Taylor KC, expressing her desire to help implement changes to prevent similar situations.
"No brother or mother should be left alone in that situation to try to navigate the service,"
"I think somebody should sit and explain to you, 'this is the diagnosis, this is what you need to know, this is what you have to look at'.
"The system is so broken. No-one should have to go to bed thinking I'm going to have a phone call tomorrow that something happened to my loved one.
"When it gets to crisis, it's too late."
At this moment, Darren, one of Ian Coates's sons, left the hearing room abruptly.
Valdo was sectioned four times between May 2020 and January 2022.
Celeste revealed that throughout her son's treatment, she did not see decisions regarding his care until she requested all medical records in 2024, after Valdo was sentenced for manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility and attempted murder.
She stated she communicated with mental health services "100 times" during his care but felt powerless.
Celeste was unaware of Valdo's fourth hospital admission in 2022 until she reviewed his records.
She said:
"I didn't know much of what was going on. The ties cut completely."
In December 2021, Valdo withdrew consent for his care details to be shared with his mother, a decision Celeste believed he lacked the capacity to make.
After this, contact between Celeste and Valdo became infrequent. When they did speak, Valdo told her he was taking medication and was "fine," she said.
Celeste Describes Final Meeting with Valdo
The last time Celeste saw Valdo before the attacks was in November 2022.
She recounted that while en route to a concert in Birmingham to surprise her daughter, Valdo chose to meet them.
Although he appeared presentable, clean, and washed, Celeste sensed a "kind of emptiness" in him.
Both mental health services and Valdo had assured her he was "fine," but she felt compelled to accept a "new son."
She said:
"Just looking at him as a person, there wasn't anything there.
He wasn't the Valdo that I knew, that I raised in my house.
He wasn't that Valdo when I look at him. He was empty. There was nothing there."
Celeste expressed that she felt there was nothing more she could have done.
She added:
"This was my new son, so I just had to adjust to it."
Valdo Calocane is currently serving an indefinite hospital order in a high-security facility.
Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber, and Grace O'Malley-Kumar were stabbed to death by Calocane.
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