Nottingham victim's mum 'burst into tears' when told Valdo Calocane's sentence being reviewed
Attorney General Victoria Prentis tells the families of Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates it will now be for the Court of Appeal to decide if Calocane's sentence is too lenient.
Wednesday 21 February 2024 00:18, UK
The mother of Nottingham attack victim Barnaby Webber says she burst into tears when she found out the sentence given to her son's killer was being reviewed.
Emma Webber spoke to Sky News after the attorney general referred the sentence to the Court of Appeal amid concerns it was unduly lenient.
Valdo Calocane was detained at a high-security hospital for last summer's killing of students Mr Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, and school caretaker Ian Coates.
Prosecutors accepted his manslaughter plea - and did not pursue a murder trial - due to Calocane's history of paranoid schizophrenia.
The families condemned the sentence and said they were blindsided by the decision not to pursue a murder conviction.
Mr Webber's family previously called it a "huge insult" as Calocane "knew entirely that it was wrong but he did it anyway".
Attorney General Victoria Prentis has now told the families it will be for the Court of Appeal to decide if the sentence was too lenient.
Emma Webber told Sky News: "I think I was feeling so dejected and let down by the justice system in the country, particularly with our case, that I wasn't expecting that news.
"And to hear it, I burst into tears, which is probably why I'm still looking a bit red-eyed now."
She said she was pleased the sentence could be toughened, but that it was the "beginning of quite a long process for us because there's obviously other investigations going on".
One of those investigations is a review into the Crown Prosecution Service decision to accept the manslaughter plea and whether it sufficiently consulted with the families.
The families issued a collective statement after Tuesday's referral decision.
It said they were "optimistic" the Court of Appeal would provide "an outcome that provides some of the appropriate justice that we have been calling for".
"It is important to remember that this is just one part of the tragic failures in this case," they added.
"The investigation into the mental health trust, the CPS and the Nottingham and Leicestershire Police still continue."
Mr Justice Turner, who sentenced Calocane last month, said the 32-year-old would "very probably" be detained in hospital for the rest of his life.
The court heard he had previously been detained four times under mental health laws and had a history of refusing his medication.
An arrest warrant for Calocane, after he missed a court date for assaulting a police officer, was also outstanding when he carried out the Nottingham killings.