Inquests into deaths of Nottingham attack victims to open
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Inquests into the deaths of two university students and a school caretaker who were killed in an attack in Nottingham are to open.
University of Nottingham students Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, died in a knife attack in the city in the early hours of June 13.
Valdo Calocane, 31, is charged with their murder, as well as attempting to murder three other people when a van was allegedly driven at pedestrians.
Inquests into the deaths of Ms O’Malley-Kumar, Mr Webber and Mr Coates will be opened by Mairin Casey, senior coroner for Nottinghamshire, at Nottingham Coroner’s Court on Friday at 2pm.
In the days after the attacks, thousands of people attended vigils in the city in memory of the victims, where their families paid emotional tributes to them.
The family of Mr Webber, a history student from Taunton in Somerset, described their “complete devastation” at the “senseless murder of our son”, saying he was a “beautiful, brilliant, bright young man, with everything in life to look forward to”.
Ms O’Malley-Kumar’s family described her as a “truly wonderful and beautiful young lady” who would be “so dearly missed”.
The medical student, from Woodford in London, had represented Essex in cricket as a teenager and had also played for England Hockey.
Two of Mr Coates’ sons said his death had “rocked everyone’s world”, adding: “Nobody deserves this but he definitely didn’t.”
Calocane, of no fixed abode, is expected to enter pleas in September, with a provisional trial date set for January 12 2024.
At his last appearance at Nottingham Crown Court on June 20, he was remanded into custody to appear again for a plea and trial preparation hearing on September 25.
