The assaults happened on May 5 at the Arvato warehouse in Kegworth, Leicestershire – less than six weeks before the deadly Nottingham attacks
The two victims were work colleagues and following a violent showdown Calocane was thrown off the premises by security staff despite police having been called.
Yet despite a formal complaint subsequently being made Leicestershire officers failed to track Calocane down and arrest him – even though there was already a warrant out for his arrest from the neighbouring Nottingham constabulary after the brute previously assaulted one of their officers.
Yesterday Leicestershire Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct over its seemingly bungled investigation into the workplace assaults.
Calocane had started work at the warehouse on 1 May 2023 before exploding in fury four days later.
A Leicestershire Police spokesman said: “I can confirm officers were called to the warehouse in Wilders Way, Kegworth, shortly before 6pm on 5 May following a report two people had been assaulted.
“No serious injuries were reported. It was reported Calocane had been escorted from the site by security staff prior to police arriving.
“Our enquiries to establish the full circumstances of the report concerning the incident in Kegworth were ongoing at the time the incident in Nottingham occurred.”
Emma Webber, the mother of Nottingham victim Barnaby Webber, 19, has accused Nottinghamshire police chief Rob Griffin of having “blood on his hands” over the nine-month failure to execute the arrest warrant.
She added: “If you had just done your jobs properly, there’s a very good chance my beautiful boy would be alive today.”
In a statement the IOPC said: “Following the sentencing of Valdo Calocane several incidents involving previous police contact with him have been brought to our attention which we were unaware of.
“As a result, we asked Nottinghamshire Police and Leicestershire Police to provide us with information promptly about those incidents to establish whether there are any matters that should be referred to us.
“We have this afternoon received a referral from Leicestershire Police about its investigation into assaults Valdo Calocane was alleged to have committed on 5 May 2023, which we are assessing to determine what further action may be required from us.
“In relation to a warrant being issued for Mr Calocane’s arrest in 2022 Nottinghamshire Police provided us with information about that shortly after the tragic events of 13 June 2023.
“We decided it did not meet our referral criteria because the contact had not been recent and no conduct issues were identified for any individual officer.
“Nottinghamshire Police subsequently carried out an internal review of matters linked to the warrant and we have now also requested details of that learning exercise, in case there are any issues that would require our involvement.”
