Sanjoy Kumar was also offended by his daughter’s death being referred to as ‘an assault’
Martin Naylor Courts and legal affairs correspondent
16:32, 30 Mar 2026
Dr Sanjoy Kumar has criticised a psychiatrist taking part in the inquiry(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)
The father of a Nottingham attacks victim has slammed a leading psychiatrist for “ignoring key pieces of evidence”.
Sanjoy Kumar, the father of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, says Professor Nigel Blackwood also “offended” him and the families of those who were killed by Valdo Calocane when he referred to the savage attack on his daughter and Barnaby Webber in Ilkeston Road as an “assault”.
Mr Kumar added that in his opinion Calocane deliberately changed his clothing before he stabbed three people to death as though he was “getting ready for battle”.
But Prof Blackwood told the hearing his assessment of the killer, having read material on him as well as interviewing him for five hours in a secure mental health hospital, was not “pre-judged”.
University of Nottingham students Grace, Barnaby, and school caretaker Ian Coates were all stabbed to death by Calocane in the early hours of June 13, 2023.
The killer then took Mr Coates van from where he killed him in Magdala Road and deliberately drove it into Wayne Birkett, Sharon Miller and Marcin Gawronski in the city centre as they went to work.
Speaking after Prof Blackwood gave his evidence, Mr Kumar told NottinghamshireLive: “Someone who is making a decision on what is the most important matter in our lives has not asked for key pieces of evidence in order for him to make his assessment and reach his conclusions.
“Did he ask to see previous medical notes? No.
“He said [Calocane] told him that voices in his head told him he had to assault a co-worker (during a previous, earlier, incident). Did he explore that? No.
Dr Sanjoy Kumar, the father of Grace O’Malley-Kumar pictured outside Mary Ward House in Tavistock Place, London(Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)
“A key thing we agree on and this is something we have never argued about is VC’s diagnosis.
“We say he was relapsing at the time (of the attacks) but Blackwood disagrees, he says ‘no this is all his psychosis’.
“Everything we have seen today shows that VC was highly manipulative, but Blackwood says this is not manipulation and instead it is a lack of insight.”
Counsel Tim Maloney, for the families, asked Professor Blackwood about his interview with Calocane which took place at Ashworth Hospital, in Merseyside, which took place over five hours in November, 2023 and the reports he filed following it.
He said: “You have accepted today that some people who are suffering from a psychotic disorder are capable of not telling the truth in pursuit of what they believe to be their own interest?”
The witness replied: “Absolutely, yes.”
Mr Maloney asked: “It is important to have as much material as possible provided to you by the police in order to ensure that your assessment is as informed and rigorous as possible?”
He replied: “Yes.”
Counsel asked: “Did you feel there was any gap in your knowledge as to VC’s developmental history?”
The professor said: “I think we had a very full dataset.”
Mr Maloney said: “We have heard he didn’t have friends, he was a loner, he was moving from one part of the country to another, there are a few things emerging that you didn’t really know about at the time aren’t there?”
He replied: “That is absolutely correct, yes.”
Rachel Langdale KC, counsel for the inquiry, told the hearing that Calocane had been looking at real-life “terrorism and shootings” on his phone ahead of the killings.
She asked the professor: “He’s a dangerous man isn’t he?”
He replied: “I think his risk to others has increased as a result of his psychotic illness.
“This may be reflective of the fact that he’s beginning to have murderous intentions.
Dr Sanjoy Kumar, father of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Emma Webber, mother of Barnaby Webber and James Coates, son of Ian Coates (Image: Joseph Raynor/ Reach PLC)
“We know he buys a knife in 2022, he buys knife-sharpening equipment, so there is a new interest in weaponry at this point. He is concerned that the powers that be are interfering with his mind.”
Ms Langdale asked: “Is there anything in his behaviour that you view as manipulation?
Prof Blackwood replied: “Well being manipulative is being aware of what an individual is seeking and while being aware of that, going out of your way to frustrate that aim.
“So there is nothing in his police interviews I would ascribe to manipulation.”
He was asked: “Were you aware how many weapons he had in his rucksack that night (of the killings in Nottingham)?”
He replied: “Yes, I think there were four in the rucksack and there was a piece of piping.
She asked: “Calculated to cause harm?”
He said: “Absolutely, they speak to his murderous intentions.”
Ms Langdale asked about Calocane wearing all black on the morning of the attacks and how other people walked past him as he lurked in the shadows off Ilkeston Road before claiming his first two victims.
The witness said: “I think he’s in the grip of strong psychosis at this moment and the fact that other people passed before he decided who to assault before coming out to assault others is informed potentially by that – there is an internal struggle with command, hallucinations, for example.
“Quite why he decided to come out of the shadows and attack two students at this point I don’t know.
“We simply don’t know why these two students (Barney and Grace) were the people he assaulted.
“The emotional impact of his symptoms, the emotional impact of those symptoms, his anger, his fear were such that I argued his responsibilities for these events was diminished.
“That there were substantial impairments to his actions to form a rational judgement and to exercise self-control.
“The acts would not have occurred but for his psychosis.
Mr Kumar told NottinghamshireLive: “I found it very offensive that he said he ‘assaulted’.
“He did not assault our children, he killed them.
“VC changed into combat boots, black sweater, black beanie, black jumper and totally changed his clothing getting ready for battle.
“It is all about pre-planning.”