Brother of Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane feared he would commit suicide, inquiry hears

The brother of the Nottingham attacks killer told a public inquiry he feared Valdo Calocane would take his own life.

Elias Calocane said he received messages from his brother expressing thoughts of violence and "red rum" — a reference to murder — in 2020, before Calocane's first hospital admission. Calocane, diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020, stabbed to death Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates in Nottingham on June 13, 2023. He also seriously injured three others in attacks across the city.

On Wednesday, Elias testified at the Nottingham Inquiry that he interpreted the messages as signs his brother meant to harm himself. He said he felt powerless about Calocane's mental health. Calocane became unwell as a student at the University of Nottingham and received his diagnosis in July 2020.

After Calocane's first psychiatric ward admission in May 2020, Elias compiled a document of their interactions dating to 2017. He hoped it would help doctors. The document contained messages in which Calocane described hearing voices and said he wanted to "harm, permanently." Elias believed this referred to self-harm.

He started taking notes because he did not know what else to do. Mental health professionals never contacted him about the document, which he said seemed lost. Elias saw his brother twice between January 2020 and June 2023, once in 2020 and once in 2022.

He tried to reason with Calocane's delusions about monitoring and voices but struggled with their relationship. Holding back tears, Elias said: "I guess I can say more confidently looking back, but part of this was a defence mechanism on my part, of dealing with a loss ahead of time, if that makes sense. I thought that — and I explained this to people — that every time mum called me during that period, I thought it was going to be... um, yeah, I just found it really hard."

He added there was a sense of hopelessness and that he did not know what was going on. Elias said he had to wait for something to happen and hoped it would not be bad. "I couldn't see another way out," he said. "I just didn't know what to do about it. I felt powerless."

Elias learned of his brother's diagnosis only in October 2023, four months after the killings. Bereaved families shook their heads as he described his knowledge of the illness.

The hearing grew tense as Tim Moloney KC, representing the families, challenged Elias on why he did not visit more. Elias replied: "I found it very difficult and the way I dealt with it was by withdrawing." To Moloney, he added: "I understand that you have instructions to essentially bully me and my family, but I do find this interaction a little bit strange."

Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby Webber, scoffed loudly as questioning ended.

The inquiry heard Calocane called Elias on June 12, 2023, at 19:09 BST, the night before the attacks. Elias knew Calocane was in London from a Blackfriars train announcement. Calocane discussed a zip file of documents sent to their parents about delusions of monitoring.

Calocane called again at 04:52 the next morning, after killing Barnaby and Grace and while heading to kill Ian. Elias said: "I was a little bit confused as to what he was talking about. I asked, 'are you going to do something stupid?' Thinking about suicide. He said 'it's already done.'"

"I still have that in my head," Elias said. He messaged Calocane a few times, saying to think about their parents, and tried calling before considering a missing persons report.

Sophie Cartwright KC, representing survivors Wayne Birkett, Sharon Miller and Marcin Gawronski, told Elias he should have called 999 after that morning call.

The inquiry continues.