Overview
- Elaine Newton, testifying Tuesday, said officers first told her that Ian Coates had died in a road traffic accident and only hours later confirmed he had been stabbed.
- Two of Coates’ sons told the inquiry they learned key details from social media and received a police call about ten minutes before the chief constable’s televised briefing.
- Senior officers acknowledged serious search gaps on the morning of June 13, 2023, including no helicopter, no drones, and no coordinated zoning, which counsel said could have reduced the time the attacker was at large.
- The inquiry heard Coates’ body stayed at the Magdala Road scene for about 15 hours and was under blankets before a forensic tent was erected, a delay his family called gut‑wrenching.
- Police leaders accepted they waited months to tell families that staff had viewed attack images without a policing purpose and that no full audit of who accessed the material has been done, as the inquiry examines systemic failings across police and NHS services following Calocane’s indefinite hospital order for manslaughter by diminished responsibility.