A man has appeared in court charged with the murders of three people who were stabbed to death in Nottingham.

Valdo Calocane, 31, is accused of killing 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65.

He appeared at Nottingham Crown Court this morning.

When asked to identify himself at the start of the hearing, the defendant replied ‘my name is Adam Mendes’, which he also said when he faced magistrates in the city on Sunday.

Wearing a grey prison jumper and tracksuit, and flanked by five security officers in the dock, Calocane, of no fixed abode, remained calm in the dock and was not asked to enter pleas during the hearing in the packed courtroom.

Peter Ratliff, prosecuting, said: ‘This is a complex and ongoing investigation with multiple lines of inquiry being pursued.’

Judge Nirmal Shant KC adjourned proceedings until a plea and trial preparation hearing on September 25 at the same court and thanked the families of the victims for their ‘upmost restraint’.

Speaking to Mr Ratliff, with members of Mr Coates’ family in court, the judge said: ‘There are a number of people here today who are profoundly and devastatingly affected by this case.

‘Can I say through you that they have shown the upmost restraint and dignity and I thank them for it.’

Judge Shant set a provisional trial date of January 12 2024 and remanded Calocane into custody.

Barnaby and his friend Grace were murdered just five minutes from their digs as they returned home from an end-of-term party last Tuesday.

The 4am quiet was shattered by ‘blood-curdling’ screams as the black-clad attacker knifed them both in Ilkeston Road.

School caretaker Ian Coates, 65, was then killed two miles away before the attacker is thought to have stolen his van and attempted to mow down three other people – leaving one man critically injured.

Police launched a ‘major incident’, with several roads across the town centre locked down, as the horror unfolded.

Barnaby’s heartbroken family – parents David and Emma Webber, and younger brother Charlie – have 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’.

They added in a statement: ‘At 19, he was just at the start of his journey into adulthood and was developing into a wonderful young man.

‘As parents we are enormously proud of everything he achieved and all the plans he had made.

‘His brother is bereft beyond belief, and at this time we ask for privacy as a family to be allowed time to process and grieve.’

Grace’s family said they have been ‘completely broken’ by her death.

Thousands of people joined a vigil at Nottingham University where Grace and Barnaby’s families paid emotional tributes to the students.

Mr Calocane previously appeared at the Magistrate’s Court on Sunday and spoke only to confirm his name, giving an alias of Adam Mendes.

He was remanded in custody.

Mr Calocane, of no fixed address, is also charged with three counts of attempted murder after a van was used to drive at three pedestrians, Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller.

He appeared in the dock wearing a grey T-shirt and grey jogging bottoms, flanked by three security officers. He was not required to enter a plea at this stage.

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a webbrowser thatsupports HTML5video

Police previously revealed Mr Calocane was a former University of Nottingham student, but said it was not being linked to their inquiry.

The dual Guinea-Bissau/Portuguese national had settled status in the UK through his Portuguese citizenship.

He is believed to have grew up in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article