In the early morning of 13 June 2023, three people were fatallystabbed and three others were injured when avan was driven into them in three connected attacks inNottingham in theEast Midlands of the United Kingdom. At around 04:00BST,Valdo Calocane fatally stabbed two university students in the street and subsequently a school caretaker, whose van he had stolen. After driving the van into people at a nearby bus stop, Calocane was arrested.
On 16 June 2023, Calocane was charged with three counts ofmurder and three counts ofattempted murder and on 17 June he wasremanded in custody. In November 2023, Calocane denied the three counts of murder, but admitted three counts ofmanslaughter, on the basis of diminished responsibility, and three further counts of attempted murder. His pleas were accepted by the prosecution. On 25 January 2024, Calocane was sentenced atNottingham Crown Court to be detained indefinitely at a high-security hospital.
One of the victims, Grace O'Malley-Kumar, was posthumously awarded theGeorge Medal for her bravery during the incident.
Locations of events during the 2023 Nottingham attacks
1
Fatal stabbing of two students (04:00)
2
Attacker attempts to break into hostel (~05:00)
3
Van hijacked; driver fatally stabbed (~05:00)
4
Van strikes pedestrians at a bus stop (05:25)
5
Van drives at pedestrians on Sherwood Street (~05:25)
6
Attacker tasered and arrested outside a shop (05:34)
7
Property linked to attacker raided by police (13:00)
At 04:00BST on 13 June 2023, two 19-year-olds were found fatallystabbed on Ilkeston Road,Radford, Nottingham.[1][2][3]Nottinghamshire Police received a request to attend at 04:05.[4] An anonymous eyewitness told police that he had seen the two students being attacked, heard an awful scream, and saw a man dressed in black with a hood and rucksack fighting with some people. He watched the male victim collapse in the centre of the road, while the woman moved towards a house before disappearing by the side of the house.[5]CCTV footage was later found apparently showing the suspect attempting to break into a bedroom at Seely Hirst House hostel on Mapperley Road, less than an hour after he had attacked the two students.[6][4]
At 05:25, police were called to an incident in which a van had been driven into people waiting at a bus stop near theTheatre Royal in the city centre, in which three people were injured.[4][7] The suspect then attempted to run over two other pedestrians in the Sherwood Street area; they were believed to have suffered minor injuries.[8] A man was found stabbed to death on Magdala Road in theMapperley Park area of the city, close to Seely House Hostel. At about 05:34, after a man approached police with a knife, he wastasered outside a convenience store in Bentinck Road,Forest Fields and was arrested on suspicion ofmurder.[3][2][4][8]
The first two people killed in the attacks were 19-year-old first-year students at theUniversity of Nottingham,[9][10][5] Barnaby Webber, who was studying history, and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, who was studying medicine.[11] The third victim was 65-year-old Ian Coates, the owner of the van, which had been stolen from him on his way to work as a school caretaker. All the injured victims were wounded after they were run into at a bus stop; one was in a critical condition.[3][12] On 15 June, aNottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust spokesman said the man left in a critical condition was now stable.[8]
In October 2025, O'Malley-Kumar was posthumously awarded theGeorge Medal, the UK's highest award for civilian bravery, for her bravery in defending the injured Webber.[13][14]
On 16 June 2023 Valdo Calocane was charged with three counts of murder and three counts ofattempted murder.[18]
Calocane did not have a criminal record and was not known to the security services, but had a history of mental health issues.[3] On 14 June, detectives applied toNottingham Magistrates' Court and were granted another 36 hours to question him.[19] On 17 June, Calocane, ofno fixed address, made his first appearance in court and wasremanded in custody.[20][21][22]
In November 2023, Calocane denied three counts of murder but admitted three counts ofmanslaughter on the basis ofdiminished responsibility and three further counts of attempted murder.[23] On 23 January 2024 his plea was accepted,[24] and two days later he was sentenced to indefinite detention at a high-security hospital.[25]
The perpetrator wasValdo Amissão Mendes Calocane,[a] a dualGuinea-Bissau/Portuguese national who was 31 at the time of the attacks.[26][23] He hassettled status through his Portuguese citizenship.
In February 2024, it was announced that judges would review Calocane's sentence after the attorney general labelled it as "unduly lenient."[31] On 26 January, theAttorney General's office announced it would consider a review of the sentence following a referral arguing it was too lenient.[32]Nazir Afzal, a former chief crown prosecutor who was not involved with the case, described the decision to accept Calocane's manslaughter pleas and to give him anindefinite hospital order as appropriate.[33] A hearing at theCourt of Appeal into whether the sentence should be changed began on 8 May 2024.[34] They concluded that the sentencing judge had not erred, and the sentence passed was not unduly lenient.[35][36]
Also on 26 January,NHS England announced an investigation into Calocane's contact with mental health services stretching back to 2020.[37]Leicestershire Police also confirmed that Calocane had been reported for assaulting two colleagues at anArvato warehouse in Leicestershire, six weeks before the Nottingham stabbings, but that no arrest was made.[38] The force subsequently referred itself to theIndependent Office for Police Conduct over its investigation into the assaults.[39]
On the evening of 13 June 2023, a vigil for the victims was held atSt Peter's Church on St Peter's Square in the city centre, led by theBishop of Southwell and Nottingham, Paul Williams.[40] Hundreds of students attended the vigil, leaving flowers and lighting candles for the victims. At the same time, a memorialquarter peal was rung atAll Saints Church near the university, by members of the Nottingham University Society ofchange ringers.[41] A moment of silence was held before theCounty Championship cricket match betweenEssex andSomerset, and the flag was flown at half mast with players wearing black armbands.[42]
On 14 June, thousands of members of the public gathered at the University of Nottingham'sUniversity Park Campus at a memorial vigil and were addressed by the fathers of the two student victims.[43][44] A further, city-wide vigil took place from 17:30 on 15 June, atOld Market Square, with Vice-Chancellor Professor Shearer West, the Lord Mayor CllrCarole McCulloch and Leader of the Council Cllr David Mellen. To support people who wished to attend, transport onthe city's buses were free of charge between 15:00 and 20:00.[45] Close family members of all three of the victims addressed the crowd and aminute's silence was observed at 18:00.[8]
The Nottingham University Graduation Ball on the evening of 13 June was cancelled by student union officers due to the attacks.[46] Both student victims were members of sports teams, causing many athletes and clubs to respond to the attacks. TheBishop's Hull Cricket Club inTaunton asked for people to leave flowers and respects and the ex-England cricket captainMichael Vaughan paid tribute to one of the deceased.England Hockey, theSouthgate Hockey Club,Woodford Wells Cricket Club, andEssex Cricket all offered their condolences for another of the deceased victims.[42] On 16 June, theEngland andAustralia men's cricket teams wore black armbands as a mark of respect and observed a minute's silence, before the national anthems, at the opening day ofThe Ashes test series atEdgbaston. On 22 June, both countries'women'scounterparts followed suit for the opening day ofThe Women's Ashes series, at Nottingham'sTrent Bridge.[47]
On 15 June, Nottinghamshire Police confirmed that they had referred part of the incident to theIndependent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), as amarked police car had followed the van driven by the suspect, before the van collided with two pedestrians.[19][8]
In 2024, Nottinghamshire Police referred itself to theIndependent Office for Police Conduct regarding the content of messages in aWhatsApp group discussing the incident and victims using unprofessional and demeaning language. In April, Emma Webber, mother of victim Barnaby Webber wrote an open letter to the officers in the group expressing the disgust caused by the messages.[48][49]
