Police deny Nottingham attacks killer was charged early to 'shut down stories'

The senior officer in charge of the investigation into the Nottingham attacks has denied that triple killer Valdo Calocane was charged early to "shut down stories of police failings".

Now retired Det Supt Leigh Sanders was appointed the senior investigating officer after Valdo Calocane stabbed to death Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates and tried to kill three others on 13 June 2023.

A public inquiry into the attacks has heard how Sanders pushed for a charge against Calocane to subdue some of the reporting, due to media laws around court reporting.

On Wednesday, Sanders said he was not trying to stop stories about police failings being published.

The inquiry, which is being chaired by retired senior judge Deborah Taylor KC, is hearing from more than 100 witnesses over a total of nine weeks in London.

Calocane was charged with murder and three counts of attempted murder on 16 June, three days after the attacks.

However, following psychiatric reports, Calocane ultimately pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and three counts of attempted murder.

Calocane, now 34, is serving an indefinite hospital order.

Sanders said his focus in the days after the attacks had been "purely and squarely on dealing with a triple homicide" and not "the other noise", he said, referring to media reporting.

"It was obvious by this time that media interest in the case was enormous. It made not just national news, but international news," he said.

Counsel to the inquiry Rachel Langdale KC said: "Did you feel the need to communicate to the media what you were doing, rather than just getting on with what you were doing?"

Sanders said: "In terms of the media strategy if I'm being perfectly honest, I left that with gold [the senior officer with overall strategic command].

"My focus was purely and squarely in trying to secure preserve evidence."

When a charge has been made against a person, the UK media is at risk of being in contempt of court, if it reports details that create a substantial risk of serious prejudice to active legal proceedings.

That means media reporting is limited once a charge has been imposed.

Sanders told the inquiry how on 16 June, while being close to the point of charging Calocane, he had received a call about "stories that were going to appear in the press that were going to undermine the investigation".

The force had been contacted by the press about wanting to run an "inaccurate story" about an outstanding warrant for Calocane's arrest, the hearing was told.

Sanders claimed he could not remember the details of the story he was warned about.

In a decision log, shown to the inquiry, Sanders recorded the need to liaise with the head of corporate communications, Matthew Jarram, to "ascertain what covenants can be imposed on the press".

To impose a charge, police needed authorisation from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), however, the inquiry heard Sanders authorised the charge before getting written confirmation from the CPS.

Tim Moloney KC, representing the bereaved families, asked Sanders: "Are you sure that you didn't charge to shut down the stories of police failings around the warrant and police investigations?"

Sanders replied: "Absolutely not."

The inquiry was also told of concerns from within Nottinghamshire Police about internal leaks to the press, which were investigated by the force's professional standards department.

The inquiry heard Sanders had noted that a coordinated media release, with families affected, would be required, adding it could have a "significant impact on the reputation of the constabulary".