Valdo Calocane handed hammer back by psychiatrists despite being sectioned

Health officials at a private mental health facility handed a hammer back to Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane despite having been sectioned.

The former student told a doctor at the Priory in Arnold, Nottingham, he packed the tool in his bag because he needed to "hang items" in his new property, despite him not having a new place to live.

At this point, he had been sectioned three times, seriously assaulted a police officer and burst into the flat of a woman who broke her back when she fell out of the window trying to escape.

In June 2023, Calocane fatally stabbed Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19, and Ian Coates, 65.

On Monday, the central London inquiry, which is looking at events leading up to the attack, heard from consultant psychiatrist Dr Ajith Gurusinghe, who is the medical director at the Priory Hospital in Arnold, Nottinghamshire, where Calocane was admitted in October 2021.

The inquiry heard that Calocane brought the hammer onto the ward on October 10 after a period of leave.

Dr Gurusinghe wrote in his witness statement: "My recollection of his explanation is he picked this up as he was moving to a new property and needed to hang items."

Counsel to the inquiry Craig Carr put to Dr Gurusinghe that it was a "completely implausible" explanation because Calocane did not have somewhere new to live.

Dr Gurusinghe said: "It was plausible in his mind but we were sceptical. I remember having a conversation with a nurse or somebody that we should keep an eye, he may still be paranoid.

"This was his explanation at the time. We didn’t go to challenge him on that.

"If somebody’s insisting that’s their version of thoughts or plans, then there’s no point challenging at that point."

Mr Carr asked the witness whether it was a failure that Calocane bringing the hammer was not recorded as an incident, to which he replied: "Yes."

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Mr Carr added: “This is somebody who has come back with something that can be used as a weapon and given an explanation that, Dr Gurusinghe, it sounds like you thought was nonsense.”

The inquiry heard it was also not reflected in Calocane’s risk assessment.

Dr Gurusinghe said: "That should have been included in the risk assessment. It’s been missed. I admit it’s been missed to be included."

Helen Foster, who was a charge nurse at the Priory Hospital while Calocane was a patient there, also gave evidence on Monday.

Ms Foster agreed that the hammer incident was "obviously really serious" and "clearly a potential weapon", but could not recall how it was followed up by staff.

She told the inquiry: "I can’t remember having a conversation about it."

A Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspection of the hospital in December 2021 rated it “inadequate” overall, and shared concerns over patient safety.

Calocane, who admitted manslaughter and three counts of attempted murder, was detained indefinitely in a high-security hospital in January 2024 after prosecutors accepted his not guilty pleas to murder.

The enquiry also heard Calocane left effectively unmanaged after he was discharged from specialist mental health services in 2022 because he stopped engaging with appointments.

Despite concerns about his lack of insight, refusal to take medication, and violent behaviour when unmedicated, he was discharged from the Early Intervention in Psychosis service and transferred back to GP care.

At the inquiry, Dr Tim Baker from the University of Nottingham’s Cripps Health Centre said he believed Calocane should never have been discharged simply for "non-engagement".

He explained that GPs rely heavily on specialists to ensure patients are only discharged when it is safe, and said no evidence of a safety assessment appeared in the discharge information his practice received.

The enquiry continues.