Nottingham Attacks Victim's Father Criticizes Police Chief's Promotion

The father of one of the victims of the Nottingham attacks has voiced strong disapproval of the decision to promote the senior police officer who led the investigation into the fatal stabbings. Grace O'Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber, and Ian Coates were killed on June 13, 2023, by Valdo Calocane, an incident that led to a public inquiry.

Rob Griffin, who served as temporary deputy chief constable for Nottinghamshire Police starting in April 2025, was substantively appointed to the role in August following a selection process. Sanjoy Kumar, Grace O'Malley-Kumar's father, told the BBC that he believes the promotion is "completely wrong."

Griffin had previously been criticized by Emma Webber, Barnaby Webber's mother, who stated he had "blood on his hands." This criticism stemmed from the police force's failure to detain Calocane, who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020, despite an arrest warrant being issued in September 2022.

Kumar told the BBC that Griffin has a "long history" with the Nottingham Inquiry. He also noted that Griffin initially proposed a statement suggesting Nottinghamshire Police could not have done more to prevent the attacks, a stance that was later contradicted when Griffin admitted at the inquiry that more could have been done. Kumar also stated that families were not informed about professional standards investigations concerning the case.

Kumar expressed that families expected individuals appointed to senior police positions, such as deputy chief constable, to demonstrate "candour and integrity," qualities he felt were lacking in this instance. He questioned why Griffin was appointed to the substantive role after what Kumar perceived as a lack of candor and integrity, stating, "This is not someone who is reliable, this is someone who misled victims in a horrific situation."

Kumar added that he wanted to ask the UK secretary of state responsible for policing and the policing minister "what on earth is going on here?" He concluded, "This is a person who lacked candour and integrity from our point of view. Why was he appointed to this role and made substantive from an active role? I think this is completely wrong, and the message it gives out to people in the country is that this government does nothing but reward failure."

A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire Police stated that Griffin's appointment followed a comprehensive selection process. This process, which began when the position was advertised in July 2026 and concluded with his appointment in August 2026, included an application form, a people panel with representatives from support networks, staff associations, and external stakeholders, and an executive interview with independent panel members.