The health care worker said he and his colleagues had failed
16:00, 30 Apr 2026Updated 16:02, 30 Apr 2026
Gary Carter, who was put in charge of paranoid schizophrenic Calocane’s care from April 2022 to his calamitous discharge by Nottinghamshire Healthcare trust(Image: The Nottingham Inquiry)
Nottingham triple killer Valdo Calocane “lied” to and “deceived” medical staff trying to treat him, a nurse has told the Nottingham Inquiry.
Gary Carter, who was put in charge of paranoid schizophrenic Calocane’s care from April 2022 to his disastrous discharge by Nottinghamshire Healthcare trust in September that year, candidly admitted on Thursday, April 30, that the violent patient had deceived him and his former colleagues.
The judge-led inquiry, which started in February and is being chaired by Her Honour Deborah Taylor, is looking into how failings by the NHS trust, police, and others led to Calocane killing Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates, before attempting to kill Wayne Birkett, Sharon Miller and Marcin Gawronski on June 13, 2023.
During Mr Carter’s evidence to the inquiry, it was revealed that he had resigned from his position at Nottinghamshire Healthcare’s Early Intervention in Psychosis (EIP) service in April 2025 after facing disciplinary proceedings over Calocane’s care.
Rachel Langdale KC, counsel for the inquiry, asked the former Nottinghamshire Healthcare employee what he thought went wrong in Calocane’s case.
“Most of what I know about [Calocane], I would say 95 per cent I’ve learnt in the last… well since the sad tragedy in June 2023.
“What went wrong? Basically I think this man in a nutshell, he lied, he deceived, he outmanoeuvred the medical staff in particular, both on the ward, in the community. He wasn’t honest.
“I felt that I did as much as I could possibly do with him, really. I met him twice as his CCO [care coordinator]. Each time for less than five minutes.”
He said that due to Calocane’s risk his colleagues felt he could only be dealt with at the Stonebridge Centre, where the team were based.
“I personally really thought this was unacceptable because I wasn’t willing to kind of just sit by and wait for him to arrive, and hope and pray for the best, I felt as though we had to go out and find this man but there was problems around his moving from one address to another.”
Calocane’s mental healthcare had been coordinated by nurse Claudia Birtles from June 2020 to April 2022, but Mr Carter took over on April 28 and had previously visited the eventual killer.
A NHS report found that the rationale for this change was primarily based on Calocane’s prior history of violence and unpredictable behaviour when acutely mentally ill.
Mr Carter was not at the meeting on April 28 when it was decided he would take on the difficult and dangerous patient.
“I didn’t know the discussion was going to take place,” Mr Carter said, adding: “I find it unacceptable that I wasn’t there, basically.
Mr Carter previously told the inquiry that none of his colleagues were willing to work with Calocane – unless they had to as they were frightened of him.
Mr Carter, who was the only male on his team at the trust’s EIP service, believed the decision for him to take on Calocane was delivered to him as a fait accompli, as it had been made while he was on annual leave, according to the inquiry’s opening statement.
Neither Ms Birtles nor Mr Carter, who had the most experience in managing dangerous Calocane outside of in-patient care, were present at the meeting that decided to discharge him back to his GP.
When questioned about Calocane’s consequential discharge to his GP, Mr Carter said he accepted he, along with his colleagues, had failed him and the public.
“I didn’t discharge him. I think it’s very significant that I wasn’t there when he was discharged.
“People had run out of ideas as to how to manage this man, when it was blatantly obvious what needed to happen to him.
“He needed to be admitted to hospital for a lengthy period of time.”
Ms Langdale accused Mr Carter of avoiding responsibility at the start of the hearing and invited him to reconsider his position.
“I’m sure I played my part,” replied.
“I am not avoiding anything. Everybody who has attended this inquiry over the last two months has come out bruised.
“Some people have come out looking broken.”