The agony of losing my son in Nottingham attack

Life Changing

BBC

Society & Culture, Personal Journals

4.6 • 804 Ratings

🗓️ 29 April 2026

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the first programme of a new series of Life Changing, Emma Webber, whose son Barnaby was killed in the 2023 Nottingham attack, talks with openness and candour about the very personal anguish at the heart of this very public story.

Barnaby, fellow student Grace O'Malley Kumar and school caretaker Ian Coates were all victims of killer Valdo Calocane, a man who was known to be violent and who had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

In a break from campaigning for an inquiry into Barnaby’s death, Emma takes Dr Sian Williams inside the whirlwind that engulfed her and her family, the little gestures by members of the public in Nottingham that meant so much, and the gradual realisation that she did have the strength to challenge the system that had failed to keep her son safe.

Producer: Tom Alban

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, music, radio, podcasts.
0:06.1	Can I just say?
0:07.6	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast.
0:10.0	It's such a wonderful listen.
0:11.7	So nice.
0:12.5	There are loads more like it on BBC Sounds.
0:14.8	Different paces, different heights, the roof is buckling.
0:17.9	Where you can also listen to live sports commentary.
0:20.2	It's right foot goes for goal.
0:21.6	And then enjoy even more podcasts full of analysis and reaction to the big stories.
0:27.7	The stat that is astonishing is they ended with the lowest amount of possession.
0:31.2	And she's had to live with that.
0:32.8	So if you love sport, a passion, it's almost like a religion.
0:35.8	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:37.8	Sort of expecting that every week now.
0:40.7	You're about to listen to the latest series of Life-Changing. Episodes will be released weekly
0:47.0	wherever you get your podcasts. But if you can't wait, you can listen to the latest episodes
0:53.0	a whole month earlier than anywhere else.
0:56.1	First, on BBC Sounds.
0:58.5	You're about to listen to the latest series of Life-changing.
1:02.5	Episodes will be released weekly wherever you get your podcasts.
1:07.5	But if you can't wait, you can listen to the latest episodes a whole month earlier than anywhere else.
	...

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