IOPC staff ‘removed from investigation’ into police contact

The police watchdog has removed some staff from investigating the case of the Nottingham attacks killer after they allegedly gave officers details of their investigation.

In March, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) reopened its investigation into Leicestershire Police officers following new evidence about Valdo Calocane assaulting two people in May 2023, weeks before he killed Ian Coates, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber.

At the time the watchdog said it had taken the decision to reopen the investigation following representations by the bereaved families.

However, a report in The Times said IOPC investigators told officers they would “get off with words of advice or reflective practice” – the lowest form of sanction – and that their disciplinary case was “being driven by the families of the victims”.

Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby, told Radio 4’s Today programme she was “not terribly surprised given our interactions with the IOPC”, adding the allegations puts the watchdog “into disarray”.

Calocane, who has paranoid schizophrenia, fatally stabbed Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar on 13 June 2023, and was sentenced to a hospital order in January 2024.

The IOPC said it had commissioned an independent external review, with sources claiming the staff accused of making the comments were not the decision-makers about the case or about disciplinary action.

An IOPC spokesperson said: “We are aware of allegations made about IOPC staff by Leicestershire Police officers who are subjects of an IOPC investigation.

“The allegations involved comments alleged to have been made about that investigation.

“We are treating this matter extremely seriously and have commissioned an external party to investigate them alongside other complaints about the investigation made by the families of the victims.

“We will continue to provide the families with regular updates as these matters progress.”