In a statement to the inquiry, Emma said: "We sit here today not because we want to, but because we have to."

She added the families were often told how "strong and brave" they were, but said the public did not see "the shell of a devastated mother" behind closed doors.

However, Emma said there was "still strength in me and there is still determination".

She added: "I will never stop this fight until this gross wrong has been righted, whatever it takes and for however long it takes."

Emma and David said their victim support worker was "lovely", but that it was simply "not enough".

Emma added: "Our lady that supported us was amazing, but she had 50 other families.

"She had 50 other families to try to support and hold up."

Emma has described mental health as "a massive hot potato that no-one wants to deal with".

She said mental health was not being dealt with in society and "far too much time [is spent] worrying about segregation" and "doing the wrong thing because someone has a different colour or religion".

Emma added: "If you're dangerous, you're dangerous - it does not matter what colour you are or where you're from."

David said professionals had to be "empowered to do the right thing".

"If someone is mentally ill and dangerous, you need to treat them in a different way to someone who is dangerous," he said.

We reported on Tuesday that Emma has formally complained to Nottinghamshire Police after the inquiry heard bodyworn camera footage was unnecessarily accessed by staff.

The hearings were told there had never been a wider investigation into which police staff looked at images and footage from the attacks without a policing purpose.

Emma said there should be a full investigation and for the breach to be "considered as a criminal matter".

Image source, PA Media

David has told the inquiry he had "nothing but respect for the police" but said that in this case they had "fallen very short" of what he expected of them.

"They have acted in a way that I think is abhorrent and I really can't forgive them for that because this is my son, again, at the bottom of this," he said.

"They should have been there to protect him. He didn't ask for anything else.

"He should have been protected by them and they didn't do it."

David added: "And I think the least they could do now is to actually just tell the truth, to be honest, make some changes."

On the back of evidence about the police WhatsApp group, David told the inquiry people "have to be held accountable".

He said: "At the very core of this is a tragic, disgusting, horrible incident that's happened and resulted in the loss of our child."

David said that material should not be something people want to look at again.

"It just makes me feel physically sick to be honest with you," he added.

Emma and David have now spoken about the impact of police officers viewing sensitive material of Barnaby after the attack in Ilkeston Road.

David said Barnaby "deserves his privacy".

He added the family were told throughout that Calocane's privacy was "massively important", but it appeared it was not the same for the victims.

Emma told the hearing the material in question was not "holiday photos".

"This is my son lying on the road, having been brutally stabbed multiple times, fighting for his life and ultimately losing it," she said.

Emma added: "That's so wrong, and I will never forgive them."

The inquiry also heard the family were told by police that the bodycam footage would never be seen beyond those who had access to it and that it would be "beyond lock and key".

Warning: This post contains details that readers may find distressing

The inquiry has heard how officers were disciplined over "offensive" WhatsApp messages sent about the attacks.

Emma Webber said she was informed by a family liaison officer that a story might run in the press about the messages.

It was only after Dr Sanjoy Kumar contacted the chief constable that the families were told what had been said.

Emma said: "Reading the content of that WhatsApp message was - it was so destructive, so destroying, so awful to - and I don't mind the words being made public because the author of that message chose to refer to our children as being 'properly butchered' and everything.

"That's disgusting and grotesque."

Emma added there was a "very clean line between gallows humour and a very clear need to be able to handle what is often a very, very difficult job".

She said the messages stepped over that mark.

Emma has said she could not "underestimate" the support provided by Hudgell Solicitors, which the inquiry heard approached the family in 2024.

She said she did not know the meaning of the IOPC before then.

"I spent an awful lot of time Googling," she added.

Emma has told the inquiry she does not believe the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is "fit for purpose".

She said that, as of Wednesday, no IOPC investigation into the conduct of police officers surrounding their interactions with Calocane had concluded.

She said: "The way we have been treated and communicated with as families falls far short of an independent office."

David told the hearing he thought the police watchdog would "look at this in an independent manner".

However, he said: "I now have a very different opinion of how it works."

Emma has told the inquiry that, ahead of Calocane's sentencing hearing, her family was told to keep their victim impact statements "as short as possible" due to the number of people expected to speak on the day.

They were also told that only David, Emma and Charlie could make statements - not other family members or friends.

The inquiry has heard the sentencing hearing for Calocane was initially due to be heard in a smaller courtroom, which the affected families were not happy with.

David said: "It basically felt, again, to us it was a very convenient way to sort of limit the press, limit the exposure and not allow us to have as many of our support with us."

He said the agencies involved were getting the case "out of the way as quick as possible".

David and Emma wrote to their MP, and the hearing was later moved to a larger room at Nottingham Crown Court.

"It's taken so much out of us in every possible way to fight just to get here," Emma said.

"And there's insult, after insult, after insult and [we've been] disrespected in the way we've been treated and I'm glad it's been addressed."

Image source, The Nottingham Inquiry

The Webbers emailed Nottinghamshire Police on 19 January 2024 stating they were "unclear" about an outstanding offence regarding Calocane's assault on a police officer, the inquiry has heard.

However, the hearing was told the family was only provided with information regarding an outstanding warrant for his arrest "right before" sentencing.

They were told via email that he was detained as an inpatient under the Mental Health Act, failed to appear in court before a warrant was issued, and had not been arrested.

Emma said prosecutors added "insult to our injury" by inferring at Calocane's sentencing hearing that four assessment reports on him had been prepared at the behest of the CPS.

She said they had been done "because we were begging and pleading for them".

She added: "And I found that so insulting to use that as, in my opinion, another way to dim us down."

Documents detailing Calocane's plea agreement were delivered to Emma and David's home on 18 December 2023.

That agreement was, the inquiry has heard, for Calocane's guilty plea to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and to attempted murder.

Emma said: "It was pretty much forced upon us.

"We had made it very clear that we did not accept it, but they drove - family liaison officers - drove down from Nottingham and hand delivered it to us."

Emma wrote to the CPS on behalf of her family and Grace’s.

In her letter, she "emphasised how rushed, hastened and railroaded we feel" given the first contact with the CPS was four days before the pre-trial hearing.

At a meeting with prosecution lawyers on 24 November 2023, the inquiry heard it was said Valdo Calocane had "parked up and allows his arrest" on the day of the attacks.

The inquiry has seen footage which shows a police car blocking the white van Calocane was driving.

When David raised this in the meeting, he said he did not get an answer.

"He was stopped by police, he couldn't get through. It just wasn't - again - it just wasn't the truth," David said.

The inquiry has heard how, in response to an email from Sanjoy, Sanders - the senior investigating officer - replied to say he was working on another inquiry and would respond when he had some "down time".

David said: "I don't think he realised how that would have made us feel.

"I know he would be working on another inquiry, however that’s just disgusting - I don’t need to know that.

"I think that is very offensive and I think it just shows, again, this complete lack of regard for us as victims."

David said the families challenged an assessment of Calocane's mental health at the time of the attacks during a meeting with police and the CPS.

He told the inquiry elements of Calocane's behaviour, including carrying a bag of weapons, did not align with what they were being told.

"It was just coming back to seeing someone acting in a way that was completely at opposite ends of how it was being explained to us and how the psychiatrists were seeing it at the time," he said.

David added: "They just didn't seem to want to answer any of our questions."

However, he said the families "were starting to ask questions that were challenging them".

Emma has told the inquiry about a meeting with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Leigh Sanders, the lead investigating officer who has since retired, in December 2023.

In the meeting, the families were told there was no CCTV of police interviews with Calocane.

Emma said she had assumed there would be CCTV footage of police interviews, but she was told "clearly and plainly" there was none - only audio.

Emma said Sanders later told them, shortly before Calocane's sentencing, there was CCTV available but it would not add much as Calocane had given a "no comment" interview.

Referring to a court hearing on 28 November 2023, David said the families had "not accepted this was the way forward and we wanted them to pause".

He added: "It felt very rushed.

"Everything just seemed to be going at such a pace. It felt not right to us.

"I mean to be as blunt as this - I couldn't bring Barney back so time didn't matter at this point. I wanted it to be done properly and if it took longer, it took longer."