The family has also spoken out about how police officers supporting the family following the attack were 'advocates for the police, not for the victims'.
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The father of student Barnaby Webber has emotionally recalled how he watched his son’s phone 'travel to a police station' on a tracking app – after raising concerns about his son's safety to police following a Nottingham attack.
David Webber recalled the 'change in tone' of a police call handler after mentioning his son's name – having repeatedly failed to reach him in the hours following the attack.
“I phoned the police and said who I was and I said who my son was, and I remember a distinct change in tone from the lady I was speaking to."
It comes after Nottingham Police were forced to apologise to the families in the wake of the attacks for a 'lack of empathy'.
Emma and David Webber later told the inquiry that they were only told Valdo Calocane had also been a student at the University of Nottingham when they attended a city centre vigil two days after their son was killed.
Barnaby Webber, 19, was stabbed to death alongside fellow student Grace O'Malley-Kumar, 19, on June 13, 2023, by paranoid schizophrenic Valdo Calocane in the Nottingham attack, as the pair walked back to their student accommodation following a night out.
Speaking at the Nottingham Inquiry on Wednesday, Barnaby Webber’s parents, Emma and David Webber, gave evidence to the inquiry alongside Ms O’Malley-Kumar’s parents, Dr Sanjoy Kumar and Sinead O’Malley-Kumar.
Speaking about the morning of the attacks, he said: “We were getting up in the morning. Emma had to work, I had to work. I turned the TV on and saw the media light up.“My first instinct was to message Barney to see if he was OK.
"I messaged him and got no response, so at one point I thought I’ll phone him. So I phoned, still got no response which was quite unusual because Barney would normally answer the phone.
”Mr Webber said he checked Find My phone to see where he was, and could see he was on Ilkeston Road but he was quite close to his student accommodation."
It comes after the son of a school caretaker who was stabbed to death by the paranoid schizophrenic on the same morning told an inquiry revealed he had found out about his father had died through an Instagram message from a family friend.
Ms Webber spoke of how specially trained officers supporting the family following the attack were 'advocates for the police, not for the victims' – an issue she says needs to be addressed.
Speaking on Wednesday, Ms Webber told the public inquiry that she felt a sense of “unfolding horror” as family members, including Dr Sanjoy Kumar, were told by prosecutors that Valdo Calocane would be allowed to plead guilty to manslaughter by diminished responsibility.
Ms Webber told the inquiry that “when you’re a victim, as we are, what happens is, and it’s often used in press releases in horrors and tragedies, that specially trained officers are supporting the family.
“I don’t believe they are there to advocate for the victims and the families, they are there to advocate for the police.
“As much as they are kind and caring, they are still there to advocate for the police force… To have no advocacy for you is something that would need to be addressed.”
She added: “Nothing can be worse than being told, as a parent, that your child is dead. So having to hear the individual who did it had a history and there were mistakes and clear evidence of police failures, even if you don’t want to hear it, I do think it needs to be put in writing so it is there.”
Barnaby’s father David said it was important that families of victims are told the truth, adding: “It comes down to duty of candour – tell the truth, just be honest.”
He said: “If you are told the truth, we are intelligent human beings, as much as it will hurt, it isn’t going to hurt as much as the news that was delivered on the 13th (of June 2023). We can’t have a public inquiry every time something like this happens, it has to stop.”
University of Nottingham friends Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar were out celebrating the end of exams when they were brutally killed on the way back to their student accommodation from a club in the early hours of the morning on June 13 2023.
Calocane then stabbed 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates, who was on his way to work, before stealing his van and using it to run over three other people.
Mrs Webber said she arranged the meeting with Alex Chalk KC MP in December 2023 because she was “desperately” trying to speak to someone who could help them.
She said: “We had been very much led to believe the murderer of our child was going to be done for murder and, at the 11th hour, that was turned into a manslaughter plea.
“You just know something is wrong and I knew something was wrong and that I needed to do anything and everything possible to understand.
“If you want answers you have to go to the top. We were desperately trying to speak to someone who could help us.”"
The inquiry, which is being held in central London, is examining the events leading up to and after the attacks.
Speaking at the start of the proceedings, Mrs Webber told the inquiry “must expose the systemic failures”.
She had said: “It’s not about isolated errors. It’s about whether the systems designed to protect the public are fit for purpose, and they’re not.”
Calocane was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order in January 2024 after admitting three counts of manslaughter by diminished responsibility and three counts of attempted murder.
After his sentencing, Mrs Webber said her “devastated family” had been “let down by multiple agency failings and ineffectiveness”.
Dr Kumar had said after the sentencing: “We will look for answers regarding missed opportunities to intervene and prevent this horrendous crime.”
Barnaby Webber was remembered as a “fun, friendly and full of life” student in his seminars by his tutors.
His mother previously said he was “obsessed with aeroplanes” and dreamed of becoming an RAF pilot.
Ms O’Malley-Kumar , who was studying medicine, was described by her family as a “truly wonderful and beautiful young lady” following her death.
She had played for England Hockey at under-16 and under-18 level, going on to represent her university in the sport.