Nottingham suspect Valdo Calocane, 31, remanded in custody on murder and attempted murder charges after court appearance
NOTTINGHAM attack suspect Valdo Calocane has been remanded in custody on murder and attempted murder charges following an appearance in court.
Calocane, 31, remains in custody after three people were killed and three were injured in knife and van attacks in Nottingham on Tuesday.
During the brief 10-minute hearing Calocane, who is of no fixed address, was remanded into custody to appear at Nottingham Crown Court on June 20 at 10am.
He appeared in court charged with three counts of murder and three count of attempted murder – relating to three members of the public allegedly struck by a van.
The alleged victims of the attempted murder were named in the charge as Sharon Miller, Marcin Gawronski and Wayne Birkett.
Calocane gave his name in court as Adam Mendes, which his solicitor confirmed was a name Calocane was also known by.
He gave his date of birth as September 4, 1991, and he confirmed he had no address.
A bearded Calocane wore a grey T-shirt and bottoms, and spoke clearly when asked to confirm his details to the legal advisor.
All the charges were read out to him – but there was no response and he was not required to enter a plea at this stage.
It comes after it was revealed that a victim of the Nottingham attack horror died a hero after trying to save her pal from the knifeman.
Fearless Grace Kumar, 19, bravely put herself in between the attacker and Barnaby Webber during Tuesday’s horror.
A witness, who did not wish to be named, told 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.”
At a vigil for the attack victims yesterday, Grace’s family remembered their “beautiful baby girl” and said that she was studying to become a doctor like her father.
Meanwhile, Barney’s mum said: “My beautiful, beautiful boy, you have mine, your dad and your brother’s heart forever.”
Valdo Calocane, 31, has been charged with the pair’s murder, as well as that of school caretaker Ian Coates, 65.
He is accused of stabbing the trio, before stealing Mr Coates’ van and using it to drive into a crowd of pedestrians, injuring three, in the early hours of Tuesday.
He was Tasered and cuffed after allegedly running at cops with a knife on Maples Street in Nottingham at 5.30am.
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.
Mr Coates’ 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.
Chief Constable Kate Meynell, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “These charges are a significant development and arise as a result of our thorough investigation into these horrific incidents that occurred in our city.
“Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of all those affected by these attacks, and we will continue to provide support and reassurance.”
Calocane, understood to be from Guinea-Bissau, West Africa, graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Nottingham last summer.
He was said to be “very bright” but suffering with his mental health.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has said the driver of a marked police car had sight of a van for “less than a minute” before it collided with pedestrians during the Nottingham attacks.
In a statement, a spokesman for the IOPC said: “We have viewed dashcam footage from the police car and can confirm the officer, in a single-crewed vehicle en route to a linked incident, had sight of the van for less than a minute before the collision in the South Sherwood Street area.
“The officer immediately stopped to provide first aid.”
It added that “our investigation will consider whether the actions of the van driver were influenced by the police car’s presence”.