A man has admitted killing three people who died in separate attacks in Nottingham. Students Barnaby Webber and Grace O’Malley-Kumar, both 19, and school caretaker Ian Coates, 65, died after being stabbed on 13 June.
Valdo Calocane, also known as Adam Mendes, denied murder but admitted three counts of manslaughter based on diminished responsibility.
The 32-year-old also admitted to the attempted murder of three others.
The University of Nottingham students Mr. Webber and Ms O’Malley-Kumar were fatally stabbed in Ilkeston Road just after 04:00 BST, while Mr Coates was found dead with knife injuries in Magdala Road after his van was allegedly stolen.
Pedestrians Wayne Birkett, Marcin Gawronski and Sharon Miller were then driven while in Milton Street and Upper Parliament Street, in the city centre.
Defence barrister, Peter Joyce KC, told Nottingham Crown Court the pleas had been entered based on diminished responsibility.
The prosecution will now review medical evidence before considering whether to accept the pleas.
Calocane, who was dressed in a dark suit with a red pocket square and a light blue shirt, is next due in court on 16 January.
Thousands attended vigils at the University of Nottingham and the Old Market Square to remember the victims.
The family of Mr Webber – a history student from Taunton in Somerset – described their “complete devastation” at his death, saying he was a “beautiful, brilliant, bright young man, with everything in life to look forward to”.
Ms O’Malley-Kumar’s family said she was a “truly wonderful and beautiful young lady”, and that she would be “so dearly missed”.
The medical student, from Woodford in north-east London, had represented Essex in cricket as a teenager, and had also played for England Hockey.
Her parents were in the public gallery during the hearing on Tuesday. Mr Coates worked at the Huntingdon Academy in Nottingham and was four months from retirement.
His three sons were also in court for the hearing. Two of them, Lee and James, said he was a keen fisherman and “die-hard” Nottingham Forest fan.
Nottinghamshire Police referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) the day after the attacks.
The IOPC investigation will look at whether the actions of Calocane, of no fixed abode, were influenced by the presence of a police car that was following him.
The IOPC said an officer driving the single-crewed vehicle had sight of the suspect driving the van for less than a minute before it hit pedestrians.
The officer immediately stopped to give first aid to those who had been hit, the police watchdog added.
