Staff working in courts and prison who are accused of opening records and images related to the Nottingham attacks, even though they no no legitimate reason for doing so, could face criminal charges.
The South East Regional Organised Crime Unit has been investigating their actions since last year, to establish whether there were offences committed under the Computer Misuse Act and if files had been accessed relating to the Nottingham triple killing in 2023, according to The Times.
.A file has been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to see if there is enough evidence to instigate criminal charges. A spokesman told The Times that no arrests had been made, but a number of voluntary interviews had taken place.
The families of the victims of Valdo Calocane, a paranoid schizophrenic who carried out the attack, are said to have been left distraught by the claim that staff from several agencies accessed sensitive information without permission. They described the intrusions as “gross and inexcusable voyeurism at the most repugnant level”.
It was revealed earlier this year that 98 staff at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust accessed the records of victims when they were taken to the emergency department for treatment. About half of them were administrative, nursing and medical staff who did not appear to have a legitimate reason for doing so. A review is under way.
A year earlier, the leader of Nottingham City Council apologised after it emerged that three council officers also accessed police systems to view information about the attack. The three were police-vetted and had access to sensitive systems for their work in the community protection service, which tackles anti-social behaviour and monitors CCTV.
At Nottinghamshire Police, an officer was given a final written warning after accessing police files about Calocane without permission and forwarding a WhatsApp message that went into gruesome details of the students’ injuries. Another staff member was sacked for using police systems to look up details of the homicides, and a special constable was also dismissed after viewing bodycam footage of the students’ last moments.
Families also had to endure a series of revelations of failings in the way Calocane, 34, who had a long history of violence, was treated by police and the NHS prior to the attacks.
Police failed to arrest him for assault a month before the fatal stabbings, even though he was already wanted on a warrant for previous violence.
The Times also revealed this week that officers from Leicestershire police, who are facing a disciplinary inquiry over the failure, claim they were told by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) that its inquiry was “politically motivated”, being driven by the families of victims and that they would escape serious censure. The IOPC has appointed an external investigator to examine the claims.
The NHS tried to suppress a report exposing a litany of failings in the treatment of Calocane before the attacks, but reversed that decision when its plans were exposed by the media. The report revealed Calocane had been allowed to skip medication, was discharged despite a lengthy history of violence, and that staff feared him, so they took extra precautions when making visits.
Calocane is being detained at a high-security hospital after admitting to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. A public inquiry is due to begin next year.
