Keir Starmer has told the families of the three people killed in the Nottingham attacks that a judge-led public inquiry will take place in “a matter of weeks”.
During an emotionally charged meeting at No 10 on Wednesday, the prime minister told the families of Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates that the inquiry would scrutinise a “number of different agencies”.
Valdo Calocane killed Webber, O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and Coates, 65, and attempted to kill three other people in a spate of attacks in the city in June 2023. He was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder.
Starmer said focusing on just one aspect of the case would not be right as he did not “think that will do justice”. A retired judge is due to be appointed and Starmer said: “As soon as that happens, the process will start.”
The families had called for a statutory inquiry in order for witnesses to be compelled to give evidence, and Starmer said this was important so that witnesses could “answer questions about their actions and their decisions”.
He acknowledged it had taken a long time to reach a decision on an inquiry.
Opening the meeting, Starmer said: “I gave you my word that we would push for a judge-led inquiry. We have looked at the papers … and today I can confirm there will be a judge-led inquiry into this case. More than that, it will be a statutory inquiry.
“I’m really pleased that we have got that far and I want to make sure you are at the heart of this. I know, acutely, you didn’t feel that before, and we will do everything we can to make sure you are at the heart of this. At least now we can begin this stage … towards the justice and accountability you so desperately need.”
He said the decision would have to be announced and discussed in parliament but added: “I don’t think there’s anybody that will question an inquiry.”
An NHS England report on the mental health care that Calocane received before the attacks found that the treatment available for him “was not always sufficient to meet his needs”.
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