‘Model’ girlfriend of Nottingham attack suspect Valdo Calocane ‘has home raided by armed cops in swoop’
THE “model” girlfriend of Nottingham attack suspect Valdo Calocane had her home raided by armed cops in a swoop, claim reports.
Calocane, 31, was charged with the murders of Barnaby Webber, Grace Kumar, both 19, and Ian Coates, 65, after he went on a rampage on Tuesday morning.
Barnaby and Grace, first-years at the University of Nottingham, were yards away from their halls after a night out while Ian was on his way to work as a school caretaker.
Calocane‘s girlfriend, 20, who is a model, lives in a student house on the same road as where the two teens were killed, reports The Times.
It’s understood armed police raided the property on Tuesday following her lover’s spate of horrifying attacks.
Calocane, a former student at the same uni as his victims, used to lived in accommodation near where the stabbings took place.
He graduated last year in medical engineering where peers reportedly said he was “very quiet”.
The suspected killer has also been accused of attempted murder of three people who were injured when they were hit by a van he stole from Ian.
He was unmasked yesterday when a clear photo was released for the first time.
The picture was taken last year by flatmates who lived with Calocane, who was born in the West African country of Guinea-Bissau – but grew up in Wales.
And neighbours claimed he used to sit “out the back of his house with his top off, smoking and drinking” – as it emerged he was looking for a job at the time of the attack.
Calocane was Tasered and cuffed after allegedly running at cops with a knife on Maples Street in Nottingham at 5.30am on Tuesday.
It came moments after a van stolen from victim Ian was used to ram into three pedestrians – leaving one, factory worker Wayne Birkett, fighting for his life.
Some 90 minutes before the arrest Grace and Barney’s bodies were found in the street just 300 yards from their halls of residence on Ilkeston Road.
Ian’s body was found two miles away from the students, on Magdala Road, at 5am.
And a man matching the description of the suspect was captured on CCTV trying to break into a homeless shelter through an open window in Mapperley at 4.08am.
While he studied at the same university as Barnaby and Grace, Nottinghamshire Police has said this is not thought to be connected to the killings.
A witness told yesterday how a fearless Grace bravely put herself in between the attacker and Barnaby.
Speaking to the MailOnline: “The boy and the girl were walking on their own, there was nobody else in the picture except the attacker, who came up from behind.
“He attacked the boy first – the girl had an opportunity to run away.
“But she didn’t, she tried to get the man off her friend.
“She tried to save the boy.”
The force was granted an extension to keep the suspect in custody for another 36 hours at around 3.15pm on Wednesday.
And officers were yesterday told they had until the early hours of Saturday to finish quizzing him.
Calocane, of no fixed address, was arrested at 5.30am on Tuesday when the van was eventually stopped.
He will appear before city magistrates today.