The mother of Barnaby Webber, a 19-year-old University of Nottingham student tragically murdered by Valdo Calocane, described herself as a “devastated shell” during a recent inquiry into the killing. The horrific stabbing, which occurred on June 13, 2023, has left Barnaby’s family and community heartbroken.
Emma Webber delivered an emotional testimony on March 25, revealing the immense pain and grief she endures daily. “We sit here today not because we want to, but because we have to,” she said. “Behind closed doors, I’m a shell of a devastated mother, barely able to breathe through my grief.”
She shared a deeply personal moment with her husband, expressing the depths of her despair: “I once said to Dave, ‘I need to leave this world. I need to be with Barney. And that you, Dave, can then look after Charlie.’”
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Despite this overwhelming pain, Mrs. Webber remains resolute in seeking justice. “There is still strength in me. I will never stop this fight until this gross wrong has been righted,” she affirmed.
Mrs. Webber emphasized that their tragedy is not an isolated case but symptomatic of larger failings within various systems and institutions. She condemned the responses they have encountered—describing them as marked by “evasion, reflection, arrogance, avoidance, damage limitation, self-protectionism, and downright lies.”
Her concern extends to public safety: “We are proof this could happen to any family, anywhere, at any time. How many more Calocanes are still roaming the streets?” She also expressed overwhelming guilt: “I dropped my son into a city that wasn’t safe for him. That’s a burden I must bear.”
Emma is determined that Barnaby’s memory not be overshadowed by his killer’s infamy. “I don’t want Barney’s name to be defined alongside that of a monster. I want those who knew and loved him to remember the joy he brought and the difference he made in his all-too-short time with us.”
Barnaby’s father, David Webber, also gave testimony describing the devastating moment he learned of his son’s death. While in Cornwall, he watched news coverage and tracked Barnaby’s phone, realizing the extent of the danger. Soon after, police confirmed the heartbreaking news. David criticized Nottinghamshire Police for failing to act appropriately prior to the murders, specifically regarding Calocane’s existing warrant for assaulting a police officer and the inadequate communication about this during the investigation.
David took issue with remarks by senior officer Rob Griffin, who suggested that arresting Calocane earlier might not have changed the outcome. “That’s offensive. The point is that you didn’t do your job. If you had, who knows what might have been different,” he stated.
The inquiry also heard from Dr. Sanjoy Kumar and Dr. Sinead O’Malley, parents of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, another victim. They strongly criticized both the handling of Calocane prior to the murders and the mental health assessment conducted months later that led to his hospital sentence rather than imprisonment.
Sanjoy Kumar described the psychiatric evaluation as “crystal ball psychiatry," noting that a meaningful assessment should have included conversations with the security guard who encountered Calocane during his rampage, as well as with his family.
When questioned about whether forensic drug testing, such as hair sampling, should have been conducted on Calocane, the doctors agreed it was a necessary part of the investigation that was overlooked. Sanjoy, drawing on his forensic medical background, emphasized that such testing is “a basic part of forensics” and “may have proved everything” about Calocane’s mental state and influences at the time.
He also expressed distress that while samples were taken from the victims for testing, Calocane was not subjected to the same scrutiny. “Our children were tested, but the culprit wasn’t,” he lamented.
The inquiry continues to examine the failings that allowed this tragedy to occur, seeking to bring both accountability and reform.