The father of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, who was killed in the Nottingham attacks, said the revelation was ‘unbelievable’
17:12, 21 Apr 2026Updated 17:13, 21 Apr 2026
Valdo Calocane spent time at the Highbury Hospital in Nottingham(Image: Joseph Raynor/Reach PLC)
Mentally ill patients who should be detained for the safety of themselves or the public are being released back into the community in Nottingham due to a lack of beds, a public inquiry has been told.
A consultant psychiatrist at Nottinghamshire Healthcare Foundation Trust, the organisation responsible for mental health provision in the city and county, said some patients cannot get beds despite it being ‘unsafe’ for them to be in the community.
The revelation came during the evidence of Dr Khuram Malik, who was speaking at a public inquiry into the Nottingham attacks, in which Valdo Calocane killed Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates before running over three others on June 13, 2023.
The psychiatrist was one of the first mental health workers to assess Calocane when he was arrested for breaking into a neighbouring flat in May 2020.
Dr Sanjoy Kumar, the father of Grace, said Dr Malik’s admission was “honestly unbelievable”.
“You only section people and deprive them of their liberty if they are a danger to themselves and or the community,” he said.
“That’s wholly, wholly, bordering on negligence.”
Dr Khuram Malik giving evidence to the Nottingham Inquiry(Image: Nottingham Inquiry)
During his evidence on Tuesday, April 21, Dr Malik was asked if he had ever felt pressure to not admit a patient or to discharge them early because of a lack of the availability of beds.
He said he had not personally made such a decision but was aware of “15, 18, 20 people” waiting for a bed for “days and weeks”.
This included patients who had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, he said.
“People go on the bed list and, if there is no bed, then if they are in an acute hospital they remain there which is not ideal, and if they are in the care home or even in the community they will remain there.
“The crisis team will remain involved and provide intensive home treatment at that time.
“There are times we have done the section and they will go on the bed list.”
Dr Malik said there have been times where patients have been sent to places as far away as Scotland but “sometimes there is no bed”.
Sanjoy Kumar, father of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, pictured outside Mary Ward House in London – where the Nottingham Inquiry is taking place(Image: Joseph Raynor/Nottingham Post )
Dr Kumar, speaking as a doctor who has experience of sectioning mentally ill patients, said beds should be found in another area if needed.
“You get a bed for a patient no matter where. For a doctor to say that they let people out on a section, in terms of scandal, is honestly unbelievable,” said Dr Kumar.
“How many people are out on a section looking for a bed? If you live in Nottingham you better keep looking around because you might have someone walking right next to you that’s on a section.”
A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire Healthcare Foundation Trust said: “We are committed to giving our fullest cooperation and support to the Nottingham Inquiry.
“It would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage while evidence is continuing to be heard.”