The mother of a student killed in the 2023 Nottingham massacre said she is dismayed by the 'arrogance, evasion, and deflection' from witnesses to an inquiry into the atrocity.
Emma Webber, whose 19-year-old son Barney was one of three people stabbed to death by mentally ill Valdo Calocane, accused police, medics and prosecutors of 'doubling down on their flawed performance' as she reflected on failures uncovered during the probe's harrowing first six weeks.
She said some of the evidence 'ran over me like a steam train', as inquiry chair Deborah Taylor heard how paranoid schizophrenic Calocane was free to kill Barney, student friend Grace O'Malley Kumar, and school caretaker Ian Coates during a bloody rampage, despite a history of violence which saw him sectioned four times.
But she said the grieving families finally felt 'heard', after being called to the witness box to share their concerns about the build-up to the tragedy, and how agencies handled the aftermath.
The inquiry has uncovered a litany of failures, including police not realising Calocane was wanted for assaulting an emergency worker when they were called to a warehouse where he was accused of attacking two colleagues, the month before he carried out the Nottingham atrocity.
Medical professionals also 'considered the research evidence that shows over-representation of young black males in detention' and decided to release him back into the community before he struck.
And prosecutors accepted Calocane's guilty pleas to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility owing to his mental health rather than pursue a murder conviction - much to the dismay of families who say they were not consulted and continue to believe murder charges should have been brought.
Speaking as the inquiry paused for its Easter break, Mrs Webber told the Mail: 'All of us have been very disappointed with most of the witnesses and the evidence they have presented.
'They are clearly providing 'their' well-rehearsed version of the truth.'
Emma Webber (front) with husband Dave (back right), and sons Barney (Back left) and Charlie (Back centre), taken on their last family holiday in Palma in 2022, a year before Barney was stabbed to death in Nottingham
Ian Coates, Barney Webber and Grace O'Malley Kumar was killed by a paranoid schizophrenic man with a history of violence
Valdo Calocane had been sectioned four times, but was free to carry out his bloody rampage in June 2023. An inquiry is looking into what happened
'There's been arrogance, evasion, deflection, and an almost total lack of ability to admit what are clear failures.
'Senior people such as recently retired (police) senior investigating officer Leigh Sanders, acting chief constable Rob Griffin, recently retired chief constable Kate Meynell, expert psychiatrist Nigel Blackwood and CPS prosecutor Alan Murphy are the worst.
'Worryingly, they are all very senior so called professionals and key decision makers.
'They have doubled down on their flawed performance, and stated they would likely come to the same conclusions and take the same actions again today that they did then.
'If this really is the "best" of our government agencies, then god help us all.'
Mrs Webber and husband Dave have between them attended every day of the inquiry, while also supporting their 'remarkable' son Charlie as he studies for his A-Levels back home in Somerset.
But she has found the whole experience of having to relive what happened 'retraumatising', despite being grateful for the opportunity to address the inquiry personally from the witness box.
She said: 'From what we've seen so far, the scale of failure and ineptitude and unprofessionalism is on a scale that even I didn't think is worse than I thought.
'We have to do all that we can to not just survive this, but see this through to the end, and then try to look ahead.'
The inquiry continues on April 13 and is due to run until the summer.