Ian Coates

Ian Coates was a 65-year-old White British school caretaker at Huntingdon Academy in Nottingham. A hardworking, trusted and much-loved member of his community, he had dedicated years of service to the school and the families whose children he cared for with warmth and commitment.

He was killed by Valdo Calocane, a 31-year-old man of Rwandan heritage.

Calocane, carried out the Nottingham attacks in the early hours of 13 June 2023. Starting around 4:00 AM on Ilkeston Road in Radford, he stabbed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar multiple times as they walked home from a night out, killing both; Grace tried to defend Barnaby before she too was fatally wounded.

Calocane then moved to the Mapperley Road area, where he attempted to break into a hostel before attacking 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates on Magdala Road, stabbing him repeatedly in the chest and abdomen and killing him. He stole Coates’ white Vauxhall Vivaro van and drove it into the city centre, deliberately running over three pedestrians—Wayne Birkett on Milton Street, and Sharon Miller and Marcin Gawronski near the Theatre Royal on Market Street—seriously injuring all three.

The entire rampage lasted about 90 minutes until around 5:34 AM, when Calocane was arrested outside a shop on Bentinck Road after approaching police while armed with a knife and being tasered. He was later convicted of three counts of manslaughter (on grounds of diminished responsibility) and three counts of attempted murder, receiving an indefinite hospital order.

Rest in peace Ian. You will not be forgotten.