Police force refers itself to watchdog over contact with Nicola Bulley before she vanished – as missing mother’s family ask public to stop ‘wild theories’ and say her battle with menopause ’caused this crisis’ after she stopped taking HR
- Lancashire Police referred itself to the IOPC over its contact with Nicola Bulley
- Today the force issued statement from family asking for personal life talk to stop
Lancashire Police have referred themselves to the police watchdog over contact the force had with missing mother Nicola Bulley prior to her disappearance.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said they were assessing the information to determine whether an investigation would be necessary over the contact officers had with the missing mother-of-two on January 10.
The referral comes after Ms Bulley’s family called for an end to the ‘speculation and rumours’ about her private life.
Police were criticised for disclosing that she suffered ‘some significant issues with alcohol’ in the past, which had resurfaced over recent months.
Lancashire Police has sparked anger and grief after detectives revealed that mother-of-two Nicola Bulley, 45, (pictured with her partner Paul) had been struggling with alcohol issues brought on by ongoing struggles with menopause
Ms Bulley’s parents and sister spoke at an appeal a number of weeks ago to try and find her
Nicola Bulley and her partner Paul Ansell were planning on getting married in the near future
Confirming a referral had been made to the watchdog, a spokesman for the IOPC said: ‘This afternoon we received a referral from Lancashire Constabulary regarding contact the force had with Nicola Bulley on January 10, prior to her disappearance.
‘We are assessing the available information to determine whether an investigation into that contact may be required and if so, who should conduct that investigation.’
IOPC rules say forces must refer serious incidents to it if police actions result ‘in a member of the public being seriously injured or dying’ after having contact with the police.
Ms Bulley’s family today pleaded with people to stop making up ‘wild theories about her personal life’ and instead focus on ‘finding’ her.
In a statement released through Lancashire Constabulary, the 45-year-old’s family chose to share more detail of her fight with the menopause and their fears that her decision to suddenly stop taking HRT may have ‘ended up causing this crisis.’
It came after the force was heavily criticised for releasing a statement that revealed she was battling alcohol problems.
The family said in their statement that Ms Bulley ‘would not have wanted this’ and said they were ‘aware’ it was going out – though stopped short of saying they approved of it.
The police force’s extraordinary briefing – where it disclosed details about the missing mother-of-two’s private life and medical details – has sparked an enormous backlash and accusations of victim blaming.
Police officers search the Wyre river bank at Wardley Yacht Marina today
The bench where Nicola’s mobile phone was last seen when she vanished on January 27
A police officer walks past a missing person appeal poster for Nicola Bulley and yellow ribbons and messages of hope tied to a bridge over the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre
A candle is lit in front of a photo of Nicola Bulley (left) and her partner Paul Ansell (right) on an altar at St Michael’s Church in St Michael’s on Wyre today
Police experts have also questioned why officers had not shared the fact Ms Bulley was deemed high risk and vulnerable from day one, something potentially relevant to the search.
It was completely at odds with a press conference held by Supt Sally Riley on February 3. There the officer was directly asked if there were any other factors with Ms Bulley – such as depression, medication or underlying conditions – which may have contributed to her going missing.
Supt Riley had responded: ‘We have clearly considered the whole picture but this is not relevant at this time.’
But the family said in today’s police-distributed statement: ‘It has now been three weeks since Nikki went missing. We, as a family, believe that the public focus has become distracted from finding Nikki, and more about speculation and rumours into her private life.
‘As a family, we were aware that Lancashire Police, last night, released a statement with some personal details.
‘Although we know that Nikki would not have wanted this, there are people out there threatening to sell stories about her. This is appalling and needs to stop.
‘The police know the truth about Nikki and now the public need to focus on finding her.
‘Due to the peri menopause Nikki suffered with significant side effects such as brain fog, restless sleep and was taking HRT to help but this was giving her intense headaches.
‘The headaches caused Nikki to stop taking the HRT thinking that may have helped her but only ended up causing this crisis.
‘The public focus has to be on finding her and not making up wild theories about her personal life.
‘Despite what some media outlets and individuals are suggesting, we are being updated daily and receive support from our family liaison officers.
‘Nikki is such a wonderful daughter, sister, partner and mother and is missed dearly – we all need you back in our lives.
‘Nikki, we hope you are reading this and know that we love you so much and your girls want a cuddle. We all need you home. You can reach out to us, or you can contact MissingPeople.org.uk. Don’t be scared, we all love you so very much.’
More officers seen by the river today as they continued their search for missing Ms Bulley
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson (left) and Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith of Lancashire Police updates the media yesterday
Two people are arrested for sending local councillors ‘malicious’ messages about Nicola Bulley search
Two people have been arrested on suspicion of sending malicious communications over the disappearance of Nicola Bulley.
Lancashire Police said it received reports over the weekend of messages being sent to Wyre Council members.
A 49-year-old man from Manchester and a 20-year-old woman from Oldham have been arrested on suspicion of malicious communications offences.
A 49-year-old man, of Manchester, and 20-year-old Oldham woman were arrested on Tuesday for messages sent to Wyre Council (pictured) members over the weekend, Lancashire Police have confirmed
The man has been bailed pending further inquiries until May 12 while the woman remains in custody.
On Monday, Wyre Council removed councillors’ contact details from its website due to ‘inappropriate emails and phone calls’ about Ms Bulley’s disappearance.
It said it had temporarily removed contact details for ‘parish and town council members’ after Lancashire Police confirmed its investigation.
Questions as to why the constabulary had not been ‘forthright from the start’ and suppressed the fact the beloved mother-of-two was vulnerable were raised today.
In missing person cases it is extremely common for people to be described this way if it is relevant to the case.
Experts and former officers expressed disbelief at Lancashire’s failure to do this and said the omission had fed a three-week mystery that saw the force at one point have to issue a dispersal notice to deter TikTokers and amateur sleuths.
Ex Scotland Yard detective and former head of Lambeth’s missing persons unit Mick Neville, told MailOnline: ‘I don’t think they needed to mention the alcohol and the menopause, but they should have mentioned mental health from the start.
‘At the start they said she was completely ordinary – they’ve told a lie.
‘It is bad management of publicity, there has been this covering up, things they have not disclosed, that has caused all this.
‘The police have created an unnecessary circus by not being forthright from the start.
‘I would have said she was vulnerable at the beginning, with a mental health background from the start.’
‘In my experience the police don’t know how to handle media and they have got very insular.
‘You can only imagine that in this case they have decided to treat her and portray her as a kind of ‘everymum’.’
Former undercover Met detective Peter Bleksley – who is also known for his appearances on Hunted – also lambasted Lancashire Police.
He said: ‘The naivety on behalf of the police has been absolutely staggering. They’ve tried to manage the situation and they’ve got it wrong at virtually at each and every turn.
‘If the public can’t trust what the police are telling us, and they have no trust in their media strategy, it’s quite natural for some people to perhaps not trust their investigation.’
After Lancashire Police revealed her issues with alcohol ‘brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause’, the force was strongly condemned by MPs and campaign groups.
Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, said: ‘The decision to disclose this level of detail on a missing person’s private life, with no evidence that this is assisting in finding her, is deeply troubling.
‘The police need to be much clearer as to why any of this helps find Nicola Bulley or support this investigation.’
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson (left) and Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith. The police said it is an ‘unusual step’ to reveal such detail about someone’s private life, but that they we felt it was ‘important to clarify’ what they meant by ‘vulnerabilities’
Lancashire Police said that Nicola was immediately graded as ‘high-risk’ due to ‘specific vulnerabilities’
READ MORE: Police debunk nine ‘persistent myths’ about Nicola Bulley’s disappearance
Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith holds a press conference into Nicola Bulley’s disappearance
A forensic diving expert involved in the search for Nicola Bulley said she ‘could have ended up in the sea’ after police revealed she was ‘high risk’ and had been struggling with alcohol.
Peter Faulding said it is ‘absolutely outrageous’ the information was withheld from him, as it would have changed how he searched the stretch of the River Wyre in the village of St Michael’s.
His comments follow Lancashire police revealing that Ms Bulley, 45, suffered ‘significant issues with alcohol brought on by ongoing struggles with menopause’.
Police initially said she had ‘vulnerabilities’ yesterday, but hours later shared more details, explaining they felt it was ‘important to clarify’.
But the decision to publicly share personal information about the mother-of-two has been called ‘deeply troubling’ by MPs and campaigners.
Ms Bulley vanished while walking her dog along the River Wyre in St Michael’s on January 27.
A briefing yesterday explained Ms Bulley was immediately classified as high risk when she was reported missing due to her ‘vulnerabilities’.
Though on February 3, detectives stated she was not unwell and not being treated for any illness.
The police also revealed that on January 10, officers did a welfare check at her home. They confirmed that no one has been arrested and that it is being investigated.
Former detective Martyn Underhill told Sky News that he had never ‘seen such a level of detail’ released in a missing persons case.
Speaking to Kay Burley, Mr Underhill said ‘You can understand why some people are saying it’s victim blaming to protect their own reputation.
‘I can’t see how it progresses the case any further forward now we’re three weeks in, to be frank.’
Mr Faulding previously said the mother could not be in the river, after conducting a search under the premise she had slipped in.
But he now believes she could be much further downstream if she intended to take her own life.
Police officers near the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, as police continue their search today
Since Ms Bulley vanished, huge public and media interest has resulted in what police described as ‘false information, accusations and rumours’ and an ‘unprecedented’ search of both the River Wyre, downstream to Morecambe Bay and miles of neighbouring farmland
Paul Ansell (right), the distraught partner of missing dog walker Nicola Bulley (left), is growing ‘frustrated’ with police over their stalling investigation, it was revealed on Tuesday
READ MORE: Moment TikTok sleuths find ‘stained’ glove near to where Nicola Bulley disappeared
Mother-of-two Nicola Bulley, 45, has been missing now for 19 days from home in Inskip
Mr Faulding told Jeremy Kyle on TalkTV that: ‘If she had jumped in, intended to take her own life or walk off, that would change my whole plan.
‘She could have ended up in the sea.’
And he told The Times: ‘I find it absolutely outrageous this was not shared with me. It’s disgraceful and someone needs to take responsibility for this.’
Nearly three weeks have passed since Ms Bulley vanished, but a search expert advising the police told the newspaper that it can take up to 100 days to find a body in a river.
The expert, who was not named, said in some cases the body is never found.
On the day Ms Bulley went missing, the river was flowing at a rate of 3.8 cubic metres per second.
Enough to carry her over the weir and off downstream, according to the expert.
In the highly-detailed public briefing from Lancashire Police, the force said it had an open mind but that there was no evidence anyone was involved.
It remains the the police’s ‘working hypothesis’ that Nicola fell into the river while taking her dog, though they were following a number of lines of inquiry.
The mortgage adviser had been struggling with menopause. Experts say women go through the menopause at the age of 51 years on average, although it can begin when someone is anywhere between 40 and 58 years old.
During this period the body goes through major hormonal changes, as the ovaries stop making estrogen and progesterone.
In the early stages this triggers hot flushes, night sweats and mood swings among other symptoms.
Reacting to the police announcement, Labour MP Ms Creasy questioned the decision to publicly reveal details about Ms Bulley’s personal life.
She tweeted: ‘The decision to disclose this level of detail on a missing person’s private life, with no evidence that this is assisting in finding her, is deeply troubling.
‘The police need to be much clearer as to why any of this helps find Nicola Bulley or support this investigation.’
Silkie Carlo, of civil liberties group Big Brother Watch, said the decision to broadcast Ms Bulley’s health issues and hormone status was ‘serious invasion of her privacy with no obvious benefits for the investigation’.
Zoe Billingham, the former Inspector of HM Constabulary criticised Lancashire Police for releasing health details about Ms Bulley.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme today, Ms Billingham responded: ‘I have to say, it stopped me in my tracks.’
‘Why on earth was this information even vaguely relevant to an investigation that’s 20 days on? If there are issues relating to Nicola that needed to be put in the public domain, why wasn’t this done earlier? And why was such personal information, such potentially sensitive information, disclosed?’
‘I’m very conscious that I’m adding to the speculation and that armchair detective melee that the force has had to deal with. But I think we need to think about what message this sends to women. What confidence will women have in the future in reporting their mum, their sister to the police as missing if there’s this fear that very deeply personal information is going to be put into the public domain for no apparent reason?’
RNLI boat our on the river Wyre Estuary at Knott End today as part of the Nicola Bulley missing person search, now in its third week
Weeks after the mystery disappearance, police continue to focus almost exclusively on the theory that Ms Bulley fell into the river at St Michael’s on Wyre
Police officers walk along a footpath in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, on Sunday as they continue their search for missing woman Nicola Bulley
READ MORE: ‘I was at home drinking tea when Nikki vanished’: Nicola Bulley’s devastated partner reveals minute-by-minute his movements in hours when missing mother-of-two disappeared
Ms Billingham said she was particularly shocked by the police’s decision to reveal that Ms Bulley had problems linked to the menopause.
She said: ‘For some many women who have been menopausal … you do look in complete bewilderment don’t you at a statement that seems to suggest that that’s a reason for potentially what may have occurred.’
‘Could you imagine a situation if a man went missing that details relating to their reproductive status was put into the public domain? It’s inconceivable isn’t it, it wouldn’t happen.’
‘I think when the concern around PR and image gets in the way of a police investigation, we as members of the public need to be concerned.’
Many social media users felt the decision highlighted the police’s treatment of women – which has recently been under scrutiny following high-profile cases involving former officers such as Wayne Couzens and David Carrick.
Jamie Klingler, co-founder of social justice organisation Reclaim These Streets, said she ‘was not invested in the Nicola Bulley story until the police started using her as a shield to protect their own incompetence’.
She added: ‘This is not how to treat a missing woman. It is cruel to her babies and to her. And they do it all the time.’
Jo Maugham, director of the Good Law Project, asked how the police will justify their decision if the mother is found alive.
He tweeted: ‘If, as we all hope, Nicola Bulley is found alive how will the police justify a breach of her confidentiality to, what looks like, manage their own reputation?’
Alicia Kearns, Conservative MP for Rutland, tweeted: ‘I am deeply uncomfortable with the police releasing Nicola Bulley’s so-called ‘vulnerabilities’ on menopause & alcohol.
‘I struggle to ascertain how this will assist Police in their search & investigations.
‘I do see how it would assist those wishing to victim-blame or diminish.’
The briefing earlier in the day revealed Ms Bulley’s long-term partner Paul Ansell had told them of a number of specific vulnerabilities that caused them to treat her disappearance as ‘high-risk’.
Pictured: The bench where Nicola Bulley’s phone was found, on the banks of the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre
‘No evidence to indicate a criminal aspect or third party involvement’ in Nicola Bulley’s disappearance, Lancashire Police Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson said to a press conference this morning.
Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith said: ‘As soon as she was reported missing, following the information that was provided to the police by her partner Paul, and based on a number of specific vulnerabilities that we were made aware of, Nicola was graded as high-risk.
‘That is normal in a missing person investigation with the information we were in possession of. As any senior investigating officer does, you form a number of hypotheses – that is scenarios which are possible from the information to hand.’
Yesterday, Lancashire Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson said the force had undertaken an ‘unprecedented amount of work’ in searching for Nicola.
He said this had included visiting more than 300 premises, speaking to almost 300 people and receiving roughly 1,500 pieces of information.
Senior investigating officer Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith said at the time: ‘Those vulnerabilities based our decision-making in terms of grading Nicola as high risk and have continued to form part of my investigation throughout.’
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