An inquiry into the 2023 Nottingham attacks has heard that the death of student Barnaby Webber, 19, was "potentially preventable" had he received different medical treatment at the scene, according to an expert panel. Webber and fellow student Grace O'Malley-Kumar, also 19, were stabbed to death by paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane as they walked home from a night out, while school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, was killed shortly afterwards; Calocane then stole Coates's van and tried to run down three pedestrians. The finding matters because it raises questions about the emergency response on the night, alongside separate, wider failings by police and mental health services already identified by the inquiry.

Counsel to the inquiry, Rachel Langdale KC, said an expert panel led by Dr Claire Park concluded more rapid administration of blood products and more aggressive fluid resuscitation at the scene could have kept Webber's heart beating long enough to reach hospital for surgery, though his chance of survival would still have been "far less than 50%". By contrast, the panel judged O'Malley-Kumar's and Coates's deaths "not preventable", as their injuries were deemed unsurvivable regardless of treatment. The inquiry, which has heard evidence from 164 witnesses over more than three months, was told Calocane had been detained under mental health laws four times before the attacks; victims' families reacted with distress as the findings were read out, with Grace's father leaving the hearing room.