The family of a victim in a Nottingham attack is distressed by the way police handled an officer who accessed disturbing bodycam footage of their deceased child.
Emma Webber, the mother of Barnaby, who was murdered by Valdo Calocane, feels let down after discovering that the officer in question was permitted to quietly resign instead of being fired as initially indicated.
According to Nottingham Police’s deputy chief constable Steve Cooper, Ilsadin Skenderaj was terminated following a misconduct inquiry for viewing the footage for policing purposes. This information was reiterated by then-Chief Constable Kate Meynell in a letter to the families of Barnaby and Grace O’Malley Kumar, who were also fatally stabbed by Calocane in June 2023.
Despite the statements, Skenderaj was not officially dismissed and chose to step down in September before the misconduct hearing in December. While off duty at home, Skenderaj watched 12 separate recordings, including scenes of paramedics aiding Barnaby and Grace, both 19 years old, and placing them in body bags, even though he was not involved in the case.
Ms. Webber expressed her disappointment, stating, “Nottinghamshire Police completely failed us regarding Special Constable Ilsadin Skenderaj. He meticulously viewed 12 body-worn videos of my son and his friend receiving medical attention – the most personal and distressing moments of their final minutes. The chief constable assured us he had faced disciplinary measures and was dismissed, but he resigned before facing real consequences. The true extent of his misconduct was only revealed during a public inquiry.”
The tragic incident involved university students Barnaby and Grace being fatally stabbed by Valdo Calocane, a paranoid schizophrenic, as they were returning home from a night out. Calocane also killed school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, and drove into pedestrians before being detained under an indefinite hospital order.
In addition to watching footage from Calocane’s arrest and inside an ambulance, Skenderaj, who seemingly ran a property lettings business alongside his special constable duties, had his devices not seized, declined a police interview, and was not held accountable for his actions.
Although police personnel have access to evidence systems as part of their job, they are expected to only use this information for justified policing reasons. Special constables are volunteer officers who work part-time without pay. The inquiry into the incident revealed that Nottinghamshire Police was hesitant to investigate how many times staff inappropriately accessed images and footage from that tragic day.
A Nottinghamshire Police spokesperson stated, “The officer resigned before a gross misconduct hearing, where he was found guilty in absentia. His resignation prevented his dismissal, and he was added to the police barred list.”