Elaine said she had questioned Nottinghamshire Police on why Calocane had not been picked up and was left to roam the city for so long before killing Ian Coates, the inquiry heard.

She said: "They said it could be quite a few reasons, there was not enough police that morning, it could have been anywhere in Nottingham as Nottingham's a big place - those were the excuses I got."

Elaine said at the time, following Valdo Calocane's sentencing in January 2024, she was happy about how the police investigation had gone.

"The only thing I was not happy about was there was a warrant out for him for nine months.

"I thought this was not acceptable for this man," she said.

When she asked her liaison officer about why Calocane was not "picked up", she said she was told if officers could not find someone, they would move on to the next person as there were "so many arrest warrants".

She said she was never told about why the warrant was issued.

We heard earlier in the inquiry that the warrant was issued in September 2022, because Calocane did not appear in court after being summonsed over his assault on a police officer in 2021.

Elaine Newton said she met the now retired Nottinghamshire Police Chief Constable Kate Meynell on two occasions.

The first was to explain what had happened with the WhatsApp group comprising Nottinghamshire Police officers, which had been reported in the press.

Officers had shared graphic details of their loved ones' injuries over WhatsApp.

"It was too much information for me to take on," Elaine said.

"She just said it was being dealt with and there was nothing to worry about."

The second meeting was also attended by then assistant chief constable Rob Griffin, she said.

She said the fact police wrongly told Elaine that Ian had died in a road traffic accident had been investigated.

Elaine said it had been logged wrongly in an officer's book, and said the officer "felt awful".

She said she asked for it to be passed back to the officer that Elaine did not think it was her fault, and to tell her she had "been kind" that morning.

On Monday, it emerged at the inquiry that Ian's body was left at the crime scene for 15 hours.

Temporary Deputy Chief Constable Rob Griffin, of Nottinghamshire Police, who was assistant chief constable at the time - was quizzed as to why.

However, Griffin told the inquiry he only learned Ian's body was left for so long after the weekend, just before giving his evidence.

On the day of the attacks, Calocane first stabbed Barnaby and Grace at about 04:00 in Ilkeston Road.

He then walked nearly two miles away towards Mapperley Road and then to Magdala Road, where at 05:14 he killed Ian - who at the time worked for Huntingdon Academy in Nottingham and was four months from retirement.

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Calocane then took Ian's van and proceeded to drive into the city centre before knocking down the survivors of the attacks - Wayne Birkett, Sharon Miller and Wayne Gawronski.

At 05:39, police arrived at Magdala Road, having been called by a witness shortly before.

Asked by Tim Moloney KC - the barrister representing the bereaved families - why the father of three was left for such a long time - Griffin said: "It does seem like a long time.

"And for Ian's family, that is particularly traumatic."

It also took two hours for a tent to arrive at the scene to cover Ian's body, the inquiry heard.

On 13 June 2023, Valdo Calocane - who was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 2020 - carried out a spate of deadly attacks across Nottingham.

Armed with a bag of weapons, he first stabbed 19-year-old students Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, in Ilkeston Road in the city, in the early hours.

He then walked nearly two miles away to Magdala Road, and killed Ian Coates.

After taking Ian's van, Calocane drove into the city centre where he struck Wayne Birkett before running over Sharon Miller and Marcin Gawronksi. All three survived but were left with serious and life-changing injuries.

Calocane pleaded guilty to three counts of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility, and three counts of attempted murder. He is currently serving an indefinite hospital order. The families affected have never been happy with that outcome.

Elaine Newton said a senior investigating officer came to the family home in January with a laptop of evidence, showing triple killer Valdo Calocane's whereabouts and CCTV footage evidence.

She said she felt uncomfortable seeing the man who killed Ian.

"I didn't want to see his face," Elaine said. "I told him I didn't want to see it and he carried on looking at it with Mark [Kimberley] and talking about it while I was on the opposite side of the sofa."

Image source, Nottinghamshire Police

Elaine Newton has told the inquiry she was a private person before Ian Coates's death.

"Because this happened, I felt like it [my privacy] was took away from me so I kept myself more private.

"I shut myself away," she said.

The inquiry heard she did not see Ian's sons often.

"There was no bad feeling - I was just always in my home and I didn't see them very often," Elaine said.

Elaine added Ian was also a private person.

She said: "That's why we got on so well, he was the same sort of person."

Elaine said her liaison officer Mark Kimberley was supportive.

"He gave me a lot of information, he helped me a lot," she said.

"Because if I asked something and I wanted to know something, he tried his best to find out."

She said Kimberley kept her informed when he was on his way to see her, and when he was getting more information.

The inquiry has heard Mark Kimberley, the police liaison officer, arrived and introduced himself with another officer, Ian's partner Elaine Newton said.

She said they "looked shocked" when she said it had been a RTA (road traffic accident).

"Ian's been killed and he's been stabbed," they told her.

Elaine said: "It felt like he'd been killed twice.

"It wasn't right. The first information I accepted, but the second I couldn't.

"You don't know which one is true - have they got the wrong person? I felt it was all not right. It was just a mess."

Elaine was taken home by the police officers.

She said the only information that was given to them was it was a RTA (road traffic accident).

This was for about five hours, she told the inquiry.

She said: "I kept asking, I needed to go to Ian, I needed to go and see where he was, because I said 'is he at hospital?' She said no."

Elaine said a sergeant had arrived, but despite asking for hours she said there was "no information".

Image source, Nottinghamshire Police

Elaine Newton is explaining how she first heard something had happened to Ian.

"I walked up a road called Cantrell Road to the top where the bus stop is," she said. "On the way I heard a siren.

"A police van was at the top of the road, with two police officers in, a lady and a man.

"They pulled up, and the lady was on a mobile. I sat and looked, and I thought to myself, 'I wonder where they're going at this time in the morning'."

At work, she said she was approached by two officers - she first thought one of her sons might have been in an accident.

They told her: "It's Ian, he's dead."

Ian Coates was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, in 1957 and moved to Nottingham when he was a young boy.

Nottingham became his permanent home and he was a regular at the City Ground to watch his beloved Nottingham Forest.

Ian's sons previously said when they were young, they remember their dad as a full-time painter and decorator.

Image source, Supplied

He was also generous with his time, his sons said, and often did DIY for the neighbours.

Ian went on to work as a caretaker in schools in Nottingham.

The avid fisherman also set up a fishing club, using his own money, to teach children how to fish, which he did until his death.

Image source, Supplied

The 65-year-old was also a much-loved grandfather and was four months from retirement from his job at Huntingdon Academy in Nottingham when he brutally attacked.

He was killed by Valdo Calocane in Magdala Road, while he was on his way to work, on the morning of 13 June, after the killer had fatally attacked Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley Kumar.

Elaine Newton has begun her evidence, talking about the moment she learned of Ian's death.

She is giving evidence at the Nottingham Inquiry, which is holding hearings at Mary Ward House in London, via audio only.

This week is the first we will hear directly from the families of the bereaved and the survivors.

Today, we will hear first from Elaine Newton, Ian Coates's partner, followed by two of his sons, James and Lee Coates.

All three of of Ian's sons, including Darren, his eldest son, have been present at the inquiry.

Image source, PA Media

Good morning - we will be reporting live from day 20 of hearings as part of the Nottingham Inquiry, which is hearing evidence about the attacks in the city in 2023.

Valdo Calocane stabbed to death Ian Coates, Barnaby Webber and Grace O'Malley-Kumar, and seriously injured Wayne Birkett, Sharon Miller and Marcin Gawronski in a spate of attacks on 13 June.

The inquiry is examining the events that led up to the attacks and the response that followed.