Inquiry told Barnaby Webber’s death in Nottingham attacks may have been avoidable with faster treatment
The death of Barnaby Webber in the Nottingham attacks may have been prevented had blood products been given more quickly at the scene, a public
The death of Barnaby Webber in the Nottingham attacks may have been prevented had blood products been given more quickly at the scene, a public inquiry heard on Tuesday. The finding came as the inquiry also learned that police only disclosed, months later, documents from Valdo Calocane’s home mentioning explosives.
Barnaby, 19, was killed alongside Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates on 13 June 2023. Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020, later admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and attempted murder charges, and was given an indefinite hospital order in 2024.
Medical panel found a small chance of survival
The Nottingham Inquiry, which is examining the killings, heard from a panel of medical professionals who reviewed the emergency response and assessed the victims’ “survivability.” Their conclusion on Barnaby was stark, if cautious.
His chances were low. But not zero.
The panel said faster administration of blood products, or aggressive fluid resuscitation at the scene, could have improved the teenager’s odds of reaching hospital with enough of a heartbeat to undergo surgery. It also noted the hard work of the emergency responders who treated the victims after the attacks.
Evidence heard by the inquiry said Barnaby went into cardiac arrest at least once after being stabbed, and could not be resuscitated in the ambulance on the way to Queen’s Medical Centre.
Questions over what police knew
The inquiry also heard that papers found in a bin at Calocane’s address included a list of explosives. Nottinghamshire Police did not disclose those documents until June this year, according to the evidence before the panel.
Those papers were among a wider set of material the inquiry has examined as it looks at the “events, acts and omissions” behind the attacks. Counsel to the inquiry said psychiatric experts who assessed Calocane after his arrest were not shown his notes or evidence of previous violent assaults, calling it an important omission.
Separate evidence from Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust pointed to pressure on mental health teams to discharge high-risk patients who did not engage with services, and to years of missed national standards before the attack. The inquiry has already heard from more than 160 witnesses.
Judge Deborah Taylor is expected to hear closing submissions after the medical evidence and disclosure issues were aired. The families of the victims have spent more than three years waiting for answers. The phrase that hung over Tuesday’s hearing was plain enough: potentially preventable.
