Nottingham triple murder suspect Valdo Calocane inside his university halls a year before killings that shocked city
This is the first photograph of the Nottingham triple murder suspect – snapped when he shared a student flat in the city last year.
Valdo Calocane, 31, was today charged with murdering 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65. They were stabbed to death in Nottingham on Tuesday morning.
He has also been charged with three counts of attempted murder after allegedly driving Mr Coates’ van into three pedestrians later that morning. One of them was left critically injured but is now stable.
In a video taken inside the flat at Madison Court, Raleigh Park, Nottingham in January 2022, Calocane can be seen holding a flatmate in a headlock during horseplay.
The former flatmate, a 21-year-old business management student at the University of Nottingham, said Calocane – a mature mechanical engineering student at the same university – did not mix well with his contemporaries, who were all much younger.
‘At first we just thought he was quiet,’ said the former flatmate, who asked not to be named.
‘He would knock on your door in the middle of the night and say ”did you hear that screaming?”
‘One time he walked right into my flatmate’s room and he woke up to find Valdo just looking at him.’
Calocane – who was born in Guinea-Bissau in West Africa but brought up in Wales – was described as unfriendly and untalkative.
‘He was always morose and really silent with us, but a girl we knew said she ran into him at a nightclub and he was completely manic,’ his former flatmate continued.
‘It was a shock when I saw his name published as the suspect yesterday.
‘The location of the murder is only a two-minute walk from the flat we shared at Madison Court, Raleigh Park in a student residence block.’
‘Our first impression was that he was just a mature student who didn’t want to speak to younger ones like us but if we made a noise, as students do, he’d burst in and just say ”shut the f*** up”,’ the flatmate said.
‘When we’d be sitting in the kitchen eating, he would just sit there silently.’
Chief Constable Kate Meynell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: ‘These charges are a significant development and arise as a result of our thorough investigation into these horrific incidents that occurred in our city.
‘Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of all those affected by these attacks, and we will continue to provide support and reassurance.’
She added: ‘This has been an incredibly sad time for our city and county, and we stand united with our communities as we come to terms with the effects of what has happened.
‘We are keenly aware of the deep emotion being felt surrounding these tragic events and the high level of interest, not only in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire but also across the whole country.
‘However, posting prejudicial information online about an active case could amount to contempt of court and, in the most serious cases, have the potential to cause the collapse of a trial.’