Nottingham: Look after each other, attack victim's father urges

By Jon Welch and Caroline Lowbridge

BBC News

The fathers of two university students killed in attacks in Nottingham have paid emotional tributes to them in a vigil attended by thousands of people.

Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, were killed in the early hours of Tuesday, along with school caretaker Ian Coates, 65.

A 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of murder and remains in custody.

The vigil was held at the University of Nottingham, where the students studied.

Neither of the fathers were expected to speak, but they took to the podium at the end despite being overcome with grief.

Speaking to the crowds of people, Ms O’Malley-Kumar’s father Sanjoy told the students to look after each other.

“Grace and her friend, they fell together, and you just need to be friends with everyone. You need to love everyone and I wish we had more of it,” he said.

“She loved being here and she loved all of you. She really did and you should all feel very blessed.”

His said his daughter had been “so full of her stories and things that she said about all of you, and you’ve all touched her life. And hence ours”.

“You’ll never be forgotten by us, certainly. We have children who were taken away prematurely from us, that should never happen to any parent.”

Speaking through tears, Mr Webber’s father David told the crowd: “I’m lost for words, I’ve lost my baby boy. I cannot comprehend how I am going to deal with it.

“Myself and Emma and Charlie and his family and friends… I know Barney would be super-touched by everyone that’s here.

“He loved it here. He couldn’t wait to come back. It drove me mad. His heart will be with you guys forever and thank you so much. I really can’t talk much more.”

Another vigil is due to be held in Nottingham’s Old Market Square on Thursday from 17:30 BST, followed by a minute’s silence, the city council has announced.

The attacks began with the fatal stabbing of Mr Webber and Ms O’Malley-Kumar in Ilkeston Road, with police receiving a call at 04:04 on Tuesday.

It is believed the suspect then tried to enter a supported living complex in Mapperley Road, around two miles (3.2km) from the scene of the first attack, but was prevented from getting in.

CCTV footage seen by the BBC shows a figure in a black hoodie being pushed away from a window and then confronted, before walking off.

Police officers believe Mr Coates – who was found dead from knife injuries in nearby Magdala Road – was then attacked, with his van being stolen and used to hit pedestrians in Milton Street, leaving one critically injured.

The suspect was Tasered by officers before being arrested.

In a statement on Wednesday, Nottinghamshire Police said the force had not received any calls about the suspect prior to the first attack.

The vigil here on a sweltering day in the middle of the University of Nottingham campus was filled with raw emotion. Everyone seemed to either be in tears or on the verge of them.

The most affecting moment was an unplanned one: David Webber and Sanjoy Kumar, the fathers of the two students who were killed just the day before, took to the podium at the end to address the huge crowd of mourning students.

The university was not expecting them to speak. Despite being stricken with grief, they both talked about their children with eloquence and empathy, in a moment that those who witnessed it are unlikely to forget.

Flowers were laid for the students, who were killed as they walked home after a night out.

Mr Webber read history at the university and Ms O’Malley-Kumar studied medicine.

In a moving speech, student union community officer Daisy Forster told the families the city’s students would support them, adding “we will always be here when you need us”.

The Reverend Grant Walton, from the university chaplaincy, described the deaths as “one of those moments which we hoped we’d never encounter” while the university’s vice-chancellor, Professor Shearer West, said the lives of the victims had been “curtailed” by a “seemingly random” act of violence.

Both students were keen and talented sportspeople and their university team-mates, wearing sports kit, were among the crowd assembled to remember them.

Mr Webber, of Taunton, Somerset, played hockey, rugby and cricket and Ms O’Malley-Kumar played hockey and cricket.

Prof Shearer West told the crowd: “What should have been a time of celebration and relaxation following the exam period has become a time to mourn tragic loss in the most unimaginable of circumstances.”

She said the university was supporting both students’ families, adding support was available to any students or colleagues affected by the tragedy.

The university and communities across Nottingham had come together in “grief and remembrance of two much-loved students”, she added.

Mr Coates, whose sons had earlier left tributes at the scene of his death, was also remembered at the event.

While visiting the scene where Mr Coates was found fatally stabbed, Lee and James Coates said their dad was due to retire in four months.

“He used to take under-privileged kids fishing just to get away from crime. You genuinely couldn’t find a nicer guy,” Lee said.

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