A 31-year-old suspect appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Saturday charged with the murder of British Indian teen Grace O’Malley Kumar, her friend Barnaby Webber and a school caretaker on the streets of the central England city of Nottingham.
Valdo Amissao Mendes Calocane, who gave his name in court as Valdo Mendes, was remanded in custody to appear at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday. He appeared in the dock wearing a grey prison-issue t-shirt and track pants and was flanked by security officers.
He is accused of killing 19-year-old students O'Malley-Kumar, Webber and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65.
Calocane is also charged with three counts of attempted murder over his suspected use of a stolen van to drive at three pedestrians, named Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller.
Earlier this week, it emerged that the suspect was a mechanical engineering graduate from the University of Nottingham – where Kumar and Webber were enrolled at the time of their killing.
He had dual nationality of Guinea-Bissau in West Africa and Portugal and settled status in the UK by virtue of his Portuguese citizenship.
Nottinghamshire Police said they do not believe the suspect’s association with the university was a factor behind the incident.
"We are keenly aware of the deep emotion being felt surrounding these tragic events and the high level of interest, not only in Nottingham and Nottinghamshire but also across the whole country,” said Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable Kate Meynell.
“However, posting prejudicial information online about an active case could amount to contempt of court and, in the most serious cases, have the potential to cause the collapse of a trial," she said, striking a note of caution on reporting restrictions now that the suspect has been charged.
The family of medical student Grace, Dr Sanjoy Kumar and Sinead O’Malley joined the family members of the other victims for a quiet vigil at the spot of the stabbing which took place in the early hours of Tuesday.
There has been an outpouring of grief since the attack, including several vigils and on Friday, cricketers at the first Ashes Test at Birmingham's Edgbaston ground wore black armbands and held a moment of silence in memory of those killed.