'HOW DOES THIS HELP?'
Nicola Bulley police blasted for ‘destroying’ missing mum’s reputation with ‘significant alcohol issues’ claim
POLICE have been slammed for "destroying" Nicola Bulley's reputation after they claimed she had "significant issues" with alcohol.
Mum-of-two Nicola has been missing since January 27 after she vanished while walking her dog in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire.
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In a statement yesterday, cops looking into her disappearance revealed she had been classed as a "high risk" missing person due to her "vulnerabilities".
They added revealing these "vulnerabilities" was an "unusual" but necessary step.
This means that there was a "real and immediate" danger to the safety of either Nicola or the public.
Lancashire Police said: "Sadly, it is clear from speaking to Paul and the family that Nicola had in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol which were brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause and that these struggles had resurfaced over recent months.”
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Former Detective Chief Inspector Martyn Underhill has now blasted the force, saying he has never "seen such a level of detail" released in a missing persons case.
He told : "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."
The ex-cop also raised questions about the police revealing they had attended Nicola's home the week before she disappeared to check her welfare.
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Nicola was visited by a police car with police and health professionals.
Mr Underhill said the "subtext" of this is that their attendance was to do with her mental health rather than a domestic incident.
He added: "That is crucial, really, I'm amazed it hasn't been released before and, of course, on 3 February in their press conference they actually said there were 'no significant issues involving Nicola's health'.
"I can understand in some ways why they didn't release it then as it would completely destroy her reputation.
"It's a big move to take but if you aren't going to take it at the start of the investigation, why do it now?"
Mr Underhill worked on the Sarah Payne case back in 2000.
She was abducted and murdered by paedophile Roy Whiting when she was just eight years old.
The horrific killing drew public attention and saw Whiting locked up for life following a police investigation.
'VILE'
Others have also branded the police “disgusting and misogynistic” for revealing the sensitive and private information about missing Nicola.
Broadcaster Fern Britton, 65, said in a tweet: ”I am uncomfortable with the latest news suggesting that Nicola Bulley has an issue with alcohol and menopause.
“The undertone is that she maybe ‘a bit unstable’ or perhaps even ‘not in her right mind.’ Too easy to write a woman off like this. What lies behind it?”
Labour MP for Walthamstow Stella Creasy also questioned the cops decision to publicly reveal the details.
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."
'DEEPLY UNCOMFORTABLE'
Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Twitter: "I am deeply uncomfortable with the police releasing Nicola Bulley's so-called 'vulnerabilities' on menopause and 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."
Silkie Carlo, director of privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, tweeted: "Lancashire Police broadcasting missing Nicola Bulley's health issues and hormone status to the world is a serious invasion of her privacy with no obvious benefits for the investigation.
"A shocking decision when the police's treatment of women is rightly in the spotlight.
"It's not at all clear how the police are justifying this disclosure, which seems to be aimed at shoring up public support for Lancashire Police's own forgone conclusions.
"The ramifications of this invasion of medical privacy could be really serious, including for Nicola's safety."
It comes after dive expert Peter Faulding said that his investigation would have been different, and may have been more accurate, if cops had told him that she was a high risk missing person.
Last night he told Jeremy Kyle on TalkTV that the information would have changed his "whole search strategy".
It comes as...
- Police have been slammed for "destroying" Nicola Bulley's reputation
- Cops reveal ‘significant issues’ with alcohol & menopause had caused partner Paul Ansell ‘real challenges’
- Police reveal officers were called to the family home just weeks before Nicola went missing
- Follow our blog for the latest news
Mr Faulding said: "If I'd known this information on day one… I’ve worked on complex murder cases, missing people since 1999. If I'd been given that information and I am trusted that wouldn't have been handed to the media.
"It would have been confidential and I would have changed my whole search strategy. I assumed that Nicola had slipped into the river and it’s only two foot deep at the bottom of the bank.
"That's why I've been so adamant that she's not in that part of the river - we thoroughly searched it. If she jumped in or intended to take her own life or walked off or wherever she is, that would change my whole plan."
The nation has been after her mobile was found on a bench still connected to a work conference call.
Nicola’s pet springer spaniel Willow was also found – but there was no trace still of the mum-of-two.
Officers previously released a timeline of the missing mum’s final movements before she disappeared.
Nicola began her walk along the towpath to the River Wyre at 8.43am after dropping her two children off at school.
Police say around seven minutes later, a dog walker who knows Nicola saw her walking around the lower field with her springer spaniel Willow.
The witness said their two dogs interacted briefly before she left Nicola via the river path.
At 8.53am, the mum sent an email to her boss at Exclusively Mortgages.
She then logged into a Teams call at 9.01am and was seen around nine minutes later on the upper field walking Willow.
Police say at 9.30am, the work call ended but Nicola stayed logged on.
At around 9.35am, the mobile and Willow were found at a bench by the river but there was no sign of Nicola.
Police are probing a two hour gap between Nicola's last sighting and when she was reported missing at 11am.
Nicola has been described as white, 5ft 3ins tall with light-brown shoulder-length hair.
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She was last seen wearing an ankle-length black quilted gilet jacket with a black Engelbert Strauss waist-length coat underneath and black tight-fitting jeans.
She had long green walking socks tucked into her jeans, ankle-length green Next wellies, a necklace and a pale blue Fitbit on.
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