Funeral held for Nottingham attack victim Grace O’Malley-Kumar

Grace, 19, a Nottingham University medical student, was tragically found stabbed to death alongside history student Barnaby Webber, also 19, on June 13.

School caretaker Ian Coates, 65, was found stabbed to death on a different road in Nottingham on the same day.

Before studying in Nottingham, Grace attended Bancroft’s School in Woodford Green.

Grace played hockey for England U18s as well as for London’s Southgate Hockey Club and the Old Loughtonians in Chigwell.

Grace’s funeral took place at Westminster Cathedral, the largest Catholic church in England and Wales, and was attended by over 1,000 guests.

During the funeral, her father Dr Sanjoy Kumar described his daughter as an “angelic girl”. 

He said: “No father should be called upon to give a eulogy for their child.

“It’s not the natural order of things. It generally means something really unnatural has taken place and unfortunately for me, my beloved daughter Grace has been taken away from us.”

He also reflected on Grace’s commitment to medicine, highlighting how she volunteered to help vaccinate people when he became the operations lead for a Covid vaccination centre in Waltham Forest.

Inspired by her father and uncle—an orthopedic surgeon—Grace aspired to join the Royal Army Medical Corps.

Dr Kumar added: “I look back now and I am astonished by her resolve.

“Here we have a child who wanted to outdo her father and her uncle in public service.

“I have to ask, what kind of angelic child tries to outdo others in serving her country and her community, but that is exactly the sort of girl Grace was, she was truly amazing.”

Grace’s mum, Sinead O’Malley, told the service that her daughter was “a perfect gift” and had been “cruelly and inexplicably taken”.

She added: “She came into our lives here in Westminster at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington.

“Her birth registered here, and it is now from Westminster that she will leave.”

A funeral for Barnaby Webber was held at Taunton Minster in Taunton, Somerset, earlier in the month.

His parents, Emma and David Webber, also attended Grace’s funeral yesterday (July 21).

Former University of Nottingham student Valdo Calocane, 31, was charged with the murder of Grace O’Malley-Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates in June.

Some reporting by PA.