Patients from Nottingham killer's NHS trust carried out stabbings weeks before attack

Two men with paranoid schizophrenia stabbed members of the public in separate attacks weeks before Valdo Calocane's killings in Nottingham – and all were under the care of the same NHS trust, the BBC has found.

Josef Easom-Cooper and Junior Dietlin injured six men in the stabbings in Nottinghamshire in 2023.

Within weeks, Calocane - who also has paranoid schizophrenia - stabbed to death Barnaby Webber, Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates on 13 June 2023.

Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust has been criticised over its care of Calocane, and in response to the BBC's findings, apologised to those "affected for any aspects of our care that were not of the high standard our patients deserve".

On 9 April 2023, Easom-Cooper stabbed a worshipper who was leaving an Easter Sunday service at St Stephen's Church in Sneinton.

Easom-Cooper's mother, Shelly Easom, said that as a teenager, her son was under the care of child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) in Nottingham.

She said the stabbing could have been prevented if her son's paranoid schizophrenia had been taken more seriously.

"It's disgusting that it takes someone to either lose their life or be stabbed before somebody thinks 'oh, hang on a minute, maybe we need to do something here'.

"The mental health services in Nottingham have routinely and systematically let him down and also the victim," she added.

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Source: BBC News, 23 May 2025