The man who stabbed three people to death in Britain during a "psychotic episode" is due to be sentenced for manslaughter tomorrow morning.
Valdo Calocane, 32, pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility for the offences committed in Nottingham on 13 June last year.
His first two victims were students Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber who were attacked at random while walking home around 4am.
Ms O'Malley-Kumar's mother Dr Sinéad O'Malley, who was born in Dublin and is now a consultant anesthetist living in Londonhas spoken of her grief since the attack.
She was in court to hear how her daughter tried to fight off Calocane who had attacked her friend by pushing him away only to be repeatedly stabbed herself.
Dr O'Malley has called for mandatory prison sentences for anyone caught carrying a knife.
Speaking on the BBC, she said carrying a knife was no different than carrying a gun.
Her husband Dr Sanjoy Kumar, a GP, said "every day it seems there is a story about someone being stabbed to death and it feels like nothing is being done about it."
However, it is Valdo Calocane's mental state that is likely to be the focus of the judge's reasons for sentencing.
Calocane, who is also known as Adam Mendes, could face life imprisonment for the murder of Ms O'Malley-Kumar and Mr Webber followed by the killing of school caretaker of Ian Coates.
Mr Coates had been driving to work in his van.
Calocane took his victim's van before trying to run down a number of pedestrians in Nottingham city centre
He injured three, one critically, before being apprehended by police.
His defence lawyer Peter Joyce KC has asked the judge to impose a hospital order rather than a prison sentence as the defendant was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.
Mr Joyce said the defendant had been of good character before this disease descended on him.
The lawyer said this was not a "soft option' as there was a possibility that Calocane would "not see the light of day for the rest of his life".
But he said the case was "crying out" for him to be put in a secure mental health facility like Broadmoor where he could receive the appropriate treatment.
Such a sentence would be "with restriction" which means he could not be released except with the permission of the secretary of state for justice.
Calocane was born in the African country of Guinea-Bissau and came to Britain with his family aged 16 in 2007.
He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in 2022.
He was subsequently diagnosed with mental health issues and believed he was under surveillance by MI5.
He was detained under the Mental Health Act four times following incidents such as trying to break into properties or causing criminal damage.
He was said to have had a history of not taking his medication.
Police admitted that they could have done more as there was a warrant out for his arrest for nine months prior to the killings.
This was issued after he failed to appear in court on a charge of assaulting a police officer.
He was also accused of assaulting two fellow employees in the warehouse where he worked just one month before the killings.
Prosecution lawyer Karim Khalil KC described Calocane's fatal attacks in Nottingham as "deliberate and merciless".
The court heard how Calacone, a graduate of Nottingham University, travelled up from London hours before the attacks.
He had armed himself with a knife and lay in wait for his first victims, Ms O'Malley-Kumar and Mr Webber, who were walking home and within 200 metres of their accommodation when they were attacked.
Dr O'Malley said in her television interview that her daughter, who was studying medicine, was the "happiest she had been in her whole life".
"I miss her so much. She was my little friend, my pet. I'm literally dizzy with grief and it's the same every day," she said.
Dr Kumar added: "The fact I will not see her graduate or marry or see grandchildren is brutal."
