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A senior police officer has apologised to the bereaved families and survivors of the Nottingham attacks about a press statement which he told a public inquiry lacked empathy.
Rob Griffin, who was Nottinghamshire Police's assistant chief constable at the time of Valdo Calocane's violent rampage, told the inquiry he regrets a statement which said the police could not have stopped what happened.
Former mechanical engineering student Calocane fatally stabbed University of Nottingham undergraduates Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, both 19, and grandfather Ian Coates, 65, and attempted to kill three more people in the early hours of June 13 2023.
On Monday, a public inquiry being held in central London was shown a statement Mr Griffin, who is now the force's temporary deputy chief constable, made to the media after the attacks.
In that statement, he said: "I'm really confident that everything that we did was thorough and professional.
"I wouldn't have looked to have changed anything, and tragically, we couldn't have stopped any of what happened."
Asked about this statement by counsel to the inquiry Julian Blake, Mr Griffin said: "When I reflect on it now, I can see the impact those words are likely to have on the bereaved families and survivors. They are words I regret, yes.
"I want to say again I'm so, so sorry about that. There are many parts of those statements that I believe are true – it was the tone and the choice of the words and the lack of empathy that is what I really reflect on, and I apologise for that again."
Chairwoman Deborah Taylor heard that when Calocane was sentenced in January 2024 to a hospital order after pleading guilty to three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and three counts of attempted murder, the bereaved families were not liaised with about police press statements.
Mr Griffin said of this: "I can see, and saw on the day of sentence, the hurt that I had caused which was quite the opposite of my intention.
"I have never had the opportunity to say it to the families, that I'm so, so sorry about that."
The officer also told the inquiry that he believes the search for Calocane after Mr Webber and Ms O'Malley-Kumar were killed should have been conducted more effectively.
The inquiry heard it took 91 minutes from when the first call was made about the attack on the students at about 4am until Calocane was found and arrested, by which time he had killed Mr Coates and ran over three other people.
Mr Griffin said: "The co-ordination of that search activity should have been better, there is no question about that."
The officer said Calocane ended up almost a mile and a half away by 4.41am, adding: "Reflecting on all of that, I can understand now why we didn't find him."
There had been a warrant for Calocane's arrest after he failed to attend court in September 2022 accused of assaulting a police officer, but this was not executed in the months leading up to the fatal attacks.
Mr Griffin said in his witness statement that the failure to arrest Calocane was a "serious, systemic, operational failure" on the part of Nottinghamshire Police.
In a draft press release about why the warrant for Calocane's arrest was not executed, a press officer suggested police could explain he had not be found because of his "nomadic lifestyle".
Mr Griffin told the inquiry this was not true.
He added: "But I think the person that drafted this thought it was true."
The inquiry heard that in a statement released to the press, Mr Griffin said it would have been "highly unlikely" Calocane would have received a custodial sentence for his assault on the police officer if he had been arrested.
Mr Griffin agreed it was not an appropriate thing to say, but added: "I know this is a highly controversial point so I take great care when I say this – but it remains my opinion that it is highly unlikely that he would receive a custodial sentence for the assault on the police officer, had he been arrested on the warrant."
The inquiry heard that information was known about Mr Webber's identity from around 4.20am on the morning of the attacks.
Mr Griffin said he would prefer if the bereaved families had been told about the attacks earlier.
He said: "The parents of Barney and Grace should have been told just as soon as was humanly possible. And I completely understand the impact of them not having been."
The inquiry continues.