Bungled Nicola Bulley case shows left-leaning police chiefs must stop seeing media as their enemy
READING the 143-page report into the tragic case of mum Nicola Bulley one thing leapt out at me – FEAR.
Right from the moment Nicola vanished while walking her dog along the banks of the River Wyre in Lancashire, police were filled with fear.
Fear of dealing with the Press, who they seemingly came to regard as the enemy, turned a tragedy in a tiny village in the North West into a global story.
And fear of allowing in other forces to help them cope with a media storm of their own making was starkly highlighted in the independent report into the search for Nicola in late January and February.
Nine months after Nicola’s body was found following a disastrous three-week hunt, the report issued yesterday by the College of Policing makes shocking reading.
But it could all have been so different.
Read More on Opinion
The report reveals that had Lancashire Police taken the media into their confidence about the background to Nicola’s disappearance on January 27, the story would never have got out of control.
It concluded that the relationship between the police and the media “is fractured” and action needs to be taken to help build trust.
I know from personal experience that the senior officers at Lancashire Police are not alone in their distrust of the Press.
Up to about 15 years ago many of Britain’s chief constables were ex-Army guys who were pragmatic and had good relations with the media.
Most read in The Sun
Now, post-Leveson Inquiry, a new breed of university-educated, left-leaning chief constables and commissioners who have come up quickly through the ranks see the media as their enemy.
Operation Elveden, which saw 29 journalists rounded up, arrested and put on trial between 2011 and 2015, further broke down police/Press relationships.
Only one reporter was convicted, though that conviction was overturned on appeal. The rest were cleared.
But the battle lines had been drawn.
Rather than being seen as a means of publicising a case to get help from the public, the Press is now seen as a threat.
Instead of considering how to build up a relationship of trust, the police go to great lengths to put up barriers to the media.
When I was in the Met, the press office at Scotland Yard was officially known as the Department for Public Affairs, or DPA.
Me and my team would joke that this stood for Don’t Publish Anything.
Fingers pointed
I once invited a reporter to the Yard on a good news story for the Met but the Commissioner — yes, that high up — started an argument with him.
Reading the Police College review yesterday, my first thoughts were for Nicola’s family, who are, no doubt, still grieving.
The report says the police investigation into Nicola’s disappearance was carried out “to a very high standard”.
But the same thing cannot be said of the force’s media operation.
Not only did the senior officers not give out information which may have helped the inquiry, they also created a false impression that Nicola was a perfectly healthy mum and wife with no problems whatsoever.
This led to fingers being pointed at her partner, Paul Ansell, who was completely innocent.
In fact, Nicola had been suffering from mental health problems, which resulted in police being called out to the family’s home in St Michael’s on Wyre just weeks before she vanished.
The report says: “The failure to brief the mainstream media on a non-reportable basis on this information, or to adequately fill the information vacuum, allowed speculation to run unchecked.”
With serious investigations, such as a high-risk missing person inquiry like this one, press conferences are useful to obtain information and sightings.
The media can really help — but an honest and open relationship is essential.
It was at this point that Lancashire Police should have taken the media into their confidence and revealed to them the medical background which would not be reported.
Anyone who broke that agreement would not be invited back.
Media help
Instead, at the first press conference, on February 3, a reporter asked: “Was she ill or was she taking any medication or any underlying condition?”
A superintendent replied to this question: “We’ve clearly considered the whole picture but that is not relevant at this time. No, not at all.”
The report concludes that this was misleading and fuelled speculation about Nicola’s disappearance.
To make matters worse, police did not check those who attended the press conference.
So, as well as accredited media, the village hall was filled with armchair sleuths, TikTok detectives and “UFO conspiracy theorists”.
Internet detectives are not new — they have been involved in high-profile cases, such as that of Madeleine McCann, for years.
But Lancashire Police were only giving out half a tale, and when there is a void of information, social media will then fill it.
Lancashire Police were swamped with media enquiries from all over the world, yet the report confirms they did not ask other forces for help.
UFO theorists
Later, when it was finally revealed that police had been called to Nicola’s home before her disappearance, it caused a vicious — and very unhelpful — social media storm, with the most dreadful accusations about her partner Paul appearing on Facebook and other sites.
The police had to backtrack on this narrative and then foolishly disclosed far too much personal and medical information about Nicola, no doubt causing further hurt for her family.
When Nicola’s body was eventually found, the family issued a scathing statement, blaming the Press and not the police.
Yesterday’s report reveals that under-fire Lancashire Police had helped the family write that statement blaming the media.
I agree with the report’s joint author, Dr Iain Raphael, who I worked with at the Met, when he says: “A professional, trusted and appropriate working relationship between the police and the media is vital for public confidence.”
READ MORE SUN STORIES
But will the police listen?
For everybody’s sake, they really must.
