Heartbroken parents of Nottingham stabbing victim Barnaby Webber have declared they will never forgive Nottinghamshire Police after officers described their son’s horrific injuries in crude and graphic terms within a private WhatsApp group.

The devastating comments surfaced during the ongoing public inquiry into the June 13, 2023 attacks, in which 19-year-old university students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, along with 65-year-old school caretaker Ian Coates, were murdered by Valdo Calocane in a violent rampage across the city.

Emma Webber, Barnaby’s mother, told the inquiry that reading the officers’ messages felt “so destructive, so destroying, so awful.” She did not hold back when describing how one officer referred to the victims as having been “properly butchered” with “innards out and everything.”

“That’s disgusting and grotesque,” Emma said, adding that the language stripped away any remaining dignity from her son and the other victims. She emphasized that she had no issue with the words being made public because the officer who wrote them had chosen to use such dehumanizing terms.

Barnaby’s father, David Webber, joined his wife in giving evidence at the central London inquiry. The couple sat with a photograph of their son in front of them as they recounted the fresh trauma inflicted by the police messages, which were reportedly shared in a force group chat after officers accessed footage of the attacks.

The parents revealed they first learned about the controversial WhatsApp exchange when informed that a newspaper planned to publish details. The revelation came as another blow to a family already shattered by unimaginable loss.

Barnaby, a promising student at the University of Nottingham, was attacked in the early hours of June 13, 2023, alongside his friend Grace as they walked home. Both young people fought bravely, but the frenzied assault proved fatal. Shortly afterward, Calocane killed Ian Coates and injured three others in a stolen van before being arrested.

At the inquiry, Emma Webber highlighted the profound disrespect shown toward the victims. She questioned whether officers had paused to consider the absolute terror her son and Grace must have felt during the attack, only for their suffering to later be reduced to casual, callous descriptions in a group chat.

The mother drew a clear line between the dark humor sometimes used by emergency services to cope with trauma and outright degradation of victims. While acknowledging the difficulties of police work, she argued that there is a boundary that must never be crossed — especially when dealing with the families left behind.

David Webber raised concerns about his son’s privacy, noting that even after death, Barnaby’s dignity appeared not to have been protected. The family also expressed broader frustrations with how the police handled communication in the aftermath of the killings.

The parents’ testimony forms part of a wider examination of Nottinghamshire Police’s response to the attacks, including questions around missed opportunities to detain Calocane prior to the tragedy. The inquiry has already heard evidence about mental health failures, communication breakdowns, and the impact on victims’ loved ones.

Emma Webber has previously written an open letter to the officers involved, pleading with them to reflect on how they speak about victims. In it, she described the comments as “callous, degrading and desensitised,” saying they caused more trauma than the families could have imagined.

She told the inquiry she decided to go public with her feelings because she wants systemic change. “When you lose your humanity and your respect for life, I don’t think you should be working in those services,” she said.

The couple’s statements have reignited public debate about police culture, accountability, and the need for greater empathy toward grieving families. Many have expressed outrage online, questioning how officers entrusted with sensitive investigations could use such language about innocent victims.

Supporters of the families argue that the messages reveal a troubling level of desensitization within parts of the force. Critics, however, note that emergency workers often employ blunt language internally as a coping mechanism, though most agree that graphic descriptions shared without regard for families cross an ethical line.

As the inquiry continues, the Webbers and other affected families are calling for both individual and institutional accountability. They want assurances that lessons will be learned and that no other parents will ever have to endure the double pain of losing a child and then discovering their memory was treated with such apparent disregard.

Barnaby Webber was remembered by those who knew him as a vibrant, kind-hearted young man with a bright future. His parents’ powerful testimony serves as a poignant reminder that behind every statistic and every crime scene photo lies a real person whose life was stolen — and whose family continues to fight for justice and respect.

The public inquiry is expected to hear further evidence in the coming days as it examines the full circumstances surrounding the Nottingham attacks and the subsequent police response.