Nottingham attacks: Victim’s body kept at crime scene for 15 hours, inquiry hears

Ian Coates, 65, was killed by paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane in the Nottingham attacks – an inquiry has heard that his body was kept at the crime scene for 15 hours after his death

The body of a school caretaker who was killed by the Nottingham attacker was left at the crime scene for nearly 15 hours while police were investigating, the public inquiry has heard. Ian Coates, 65, was fatally stabbed by paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane more than an hour after students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, were killed in the early hours of June 13, 2023.

After stealing Mr Coates’ van, Calocane ran over and seriously injured three pedestrians. A public inquiry into the attacks is currently being held at Mary Ward House in Central London. Julian Blake, counsel to the inquiry, asked Nottinghamshire Police’s temporary deputy chief constable Rob Griffin on Monday if it was unusual that Mr Coates, who was pronounced dead at 5.52am, was kept at the scene until 8.30pm.

Mr Griffin said he was made aware of this only recently, adding: “It does seem like a long time. For Ian’s family, that’s particularly traumatic. “But given the number of scenes being managed at the time, the availability of crime scene investigators, the approach taken by the crime scene co-ordinator, and the thoroughness with which that scene was being managed, I have to trust those who say that amount of time was necessary in order to ensure all forensic opportunity was maximised. Unfortunately, I can’t go any further than that because I haven’t personally investigated every single document that relates to that matter.”

Tim Moloney KC, who represents the bereaved families, said that for more than two hours after Mr Coates died, there was no forensic tent and he was covered in blankets. Mr Moloney asked: “Did Mr Coates really have to stay at the scene until the crime scene investigation was totally complete?” Mr Griffin said: “I just don’t know the circumstances in sufficient detail. I’ve not spoken to the crime scene co-ordinator or the crime scene investigator to understand why in this scenario they would have needed that to be the case.”

The inquiry heard that police waited months before telling bereaved families that staff had inappropriately viewed images and footage of the attacks. In September 2023, Mr Griffin became aware that a special constable had viewed images related to the attacks with no policing purpose, the inquiry was told. Mr Griffin said it was the senior investigating officer’s responsibility to inform families of misconduct. But he added: “I regret that between September 20 and December 14 (2023) I missed an opportunity in that period to step into that space and be more intrusive to ensure that information was shared. I thought it had been. “All of that pain, additional pain, that the bereaved families and surviving victims have suffered because of that could have been avoided if I’d have stepped into that space and made sure that it happened. I’m really sorry about that.”

Mr Griffin agreed there was a potentially large number of people who could have access to material about the attack, but the inquiry heard there has been no investigation into which police staff may have accessed it. Mr Blake asked: “Do you consider it odd that there hasn’t been a proactive investigation into who accessed images and footage?” Mr Griffin replied: “I think there ought to have been, yes.” The lawyer asked Mr Griffin if he could be satisfied that there were no more inappropriate WhatsApp messages shared after an officer was disciplined over a message about the attacks. He replied: “I don’t think we can be satisfied.” The inquiry continues.