18 February 2023 , 02:00
1326
0
A former detective claimed that Lancashire Police has made mistakes over the disappearance of Nicola Bulley, as the force didn’t understand “how big the story” was or “how national media works”.
The missing mum-of-two has now not been seen in three weeks after she vanished while walking her dog in St Michael's on Wyre in Lancashire, on January 27.
And police leading the investigation were blasted for first revealing that Nicola had “specific vulnerabilities”, before later going into her struggles with alcohol and menopause.
Mark Williams-Thomas, a former police detective turned journalist, said that people were always going to ask about the “vulnerabilities”, and that it was naive to think there wouldn’t have been a barrage of questions about it.
He said the police went too far into the specifics of her problems, whereas simply saying “mental health issues” would have been sufficient.
Hunt for wanted man who jumped in freezing river to escape police and vanished
Nicola Bulley has been missing for three weeks (Lancashire Constabulary / SWNS.C)Mr Williams-Thomas told Salisbury Journal On Point Podcast: “They didn’t need to go into details, but could have said she had been suffering from mental health issues and that would have shut everyone up, but they didn’t.
“I know our team watched it and straight away, I said we have got to ask what that vulnerability was. Terrible naivety both from the press and from senior investigating officers. To think you could put such a serious thing out into the public domain and not be asked questions."
He went on to claim the police had to "fight fire" due to the interest in the vulnerability, plus they had to speak to the family, explain to them what was happening, and keep them on board.
He added: “I don’t think Lancashire Police really understood how big the story is or have known how to deal with critical and major crimes or how national media works.”
Police believe that Nicola may have fallen into the river (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)Rishi Sunak said he was "concerned" after police investigating Nicola Bulley's disappearance shared her sensitive health issues with the public.
The Prime Minister said he agreed with Home Secretary Suella Braverman who reportedly demanded answers from Lancashire Police after details of the missing mum's alcohol problems were released.
She reportedly held an emergency meeting with Chief Constable Chris Rowley on Friday.