Prosecutors were correct to accept Nottingham killer Valdo Calocane’s manslaughter by diminished responsibility pleas rather than pursue a murder case, the CPS inspectorate has found.
Calocane, 32, stabbed to death students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates in June last year.
The attorney general ordered an urgent review into the CPS’s handling of the case after families of the three victims said they were bitterly disappointed that a murder case was not pursued by prosecutors.
They also felt they had not been properly informed about the decision before it was made.
His Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) said in their report published today that the CPS were correct to accept Calocane’s manslaughter by diminished responsibility pleas and that a good service was provided to families.
However, the report said there was room for improvement, recommending that the CPS in future provide written guidance to help family liaison officers explain legal concepts to bereaved families.
They also suggested that the use of the word “consult” when referring to engagement with the families around the legal decision-making in this may have contributed to a general misunderstanding of the CPS’s obligations to bereaved families.
This is because there is no obligation for the CPS to “consult” victims when making a decision on the evidential test of the Code for Crown Prosecutors, but rather to “inform” and “explain” their decision.
The report said: “It is understandable why the bereaved families find the decision by the CPS to accept the pleas of not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter difficult to accept.
“Their loved ones were violently killed by an offender who knew what he was doing was wrong and who intended to kill them.
“The term manslaughter has the perception to underplay the gravity of what has taken place.”
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