A man in England who stabbed three people to death during a "psychotic episode" last year has been told that he will "very probably" spend the rest of his life in a high-security psychiatric hospital.
Valdo Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order at Nottingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to three counts of manslaughter on the basis of diminished responsibility in Nottingham last summer.
The judge, Mr Justice Turner, said that he "deliberately and mercilessly" stabbed students Grace O'Malley-Kumar and Barnaby Webber, both 19, and 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates in the early hours of 13 June 2023.
The students were attacked at random while walking home at around 4am.
The judge said the defendant had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia which impaired his judgement and self control.
However, he said this did not detract from the horror of the attacks and their disastrous impacts.
Mr Justice Turner said the stabbings were carried out with "merciless ferocity" and were "frenzied and relentless".
He said Grace O'Malley-Kumar showed "astonishing bravery" and sacrificed her life trying to save her friend Barnaby Webber by pushing away Calocane when he attacked him with a dagger.
The judge said the defendant heard voices, he thought he was being controlled by artificial intelligence, and that his family was in danger, but he still does not accept that he has a mental illness.
He imposed a hospital order, with a special condition under the Mental Health Act, meaning the defendant cannot be released except with the permission of the UK justice secretary.
Calocane's lawyer had asked the judge to impose a hospital order rather than a prison sentence as the defendant was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.
He had been detained under the Mental Health Act four times prior to the killings and was said to have a history of not taking his medication.
However, the prosecution described Calocane's attacks as "deliberate and merciless".
Sinéad O'Malley, who is Irish and the mother of Grace O'Malley-Kumar , has spoken of her grief since the attack.
She has called for mandatory prison sentences for anyone caught carrying a knife.
