Dive specialist says knowing Nicola Bulley was ‘high risk’ would have ‘changed our whole search’
The dive specialist who has been helping police in the hunt for Nicola Bulley says knowing the missing mum was “high risk” would have “changed our whole search”.
Peter Faulding, chief executive of search team Specialist Group International, told Sky News police in Lancashire never made him aware that Ms Bulley had issues with her mental health.
Asked if having that information would have impacted his search, he said: “It would certainly change my search because, from day one, I’ve said this case is so baffling because water at the bottom of the bank at the point where Nicola’s phone and the dog’s harness were found was only two feet deep.
“If she’d have fallen in she would have landed on rocks, she would not have drowned. That’s what has baffled me.”
Mr Faulding said he remained in contact with Paul Ansell, Ms Bulley’s partner, and her family – who released a statement today calling for “wild theories” about her personal life to stop.
He added: “We thoroughly searched that piece of river as we have been tasked by the police.
“If somebody tries to drown themselves or if they are in a strange state of mind they might just wander off somewhere. She might be lying in a ditch, she could have wandered into the woods.
“So that’s the point with a vulnerable person, you don’t know where they’re going to go. It would have changed our whole search.”
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Specialist Group International searching for missing woman Nicola Bulley
Police officers near the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire
Explaining further, he added: “If she had slipped, even if she had gone into deep water she would have been found.
“She would have gone in roughly where she drowned. That is what we find on average with the drownings and suicides we deal with each year – they’re normally found within a couple of metres of where they go down.
“If she was trying to drown herself she may have drifted and potentially gone over the weir, but the police divers searched that area very thoroughly on the day she went missing and there was no sign of her. And that’s why I said this was a baffling case.”
‘A very cruel thing to do’
Asked what he thought about the police releasing personal information about Ms Bulley’s mental state, he said he’d never before seen such information disclosed.
Mr Faulding said that even as a person involved in the search he would normally just be told the individual was “high risk” and not be told specifics of what troubles the missing person was struggling with.
He added: “Normally when you’re searching for a high risk person you just get the information that they’re high risk and that’s it. That’s enough to tell us that someone may harm themselves or come to some harm.
“That’s as a searcher.
“The way it has been released to the media should not have been done. I’ve been getting calls from senior police officers asking what is going on.”
He added that, in his view, the family would be “devastated” that information about the missing mum’s struggles with alcohol had been made public, calling it “a very cruel thing to do”.
However, in a statement released through the police on Thursday, Ms Bulley’s family said they were aware of the police’s plans to release her personal information.
They said the police “know the truth about Nikki”.
Reputation ‘destroyed’ by police revelations
Speaking before the family released the statement, former detective Martyn Underhill said that Lancashire Police have “completely destroyed” Ms Bulley’s reputation by revealing her struggles with alcohol.
He told Sky News that he had never “seen such a level of detail” released in a missing persons case and added that one had to ask why officers were releasing it now.
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Police ‘completely destroyed Nicola Bulley’s reputation’
Speaking to Sky’s Kay Burley, Mr Underhill, who was a detective involved in the Sarah Payne case in 2000, said he was “confused” by Lancashire Police’s strategy.
“You can understand why some people are saying it’s victim blaming to protect their own reputation, ” he said.
“I can’t see how it progresses the case any further forward now we’re three weeks in, to be frank.”
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson (left) and Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith of Lancashire Police update the media in St Michael’s on Wyre
Having apparently found no trace of the mother-of-two for more than 20 days, police yesterday revealed that they had classified Ms Bulley as “high risk” owing to “a number of specific vulnerabilities”.
After initially refusing to elaborate on what those vulnerabilities were at a press conference, Lancashire Police subsequently released a statement saying: “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.”
“This caused some real challenges for Paul and the family,” it added in a reference to Ms Bulley’s partner, Paul Ansell.
‘Unprecedented’ search fails to solve baffling case
Detectives also revealed that they had been at Ms Bulley’s house the week before she disappeared to check her welfare.
Ms Bulley has been missing since 27 January after vanishing when she took her dog Willow for a walk by the River Wyre in Lancashire.
She was last seen at 9.10am that day, after taking her usual route with her springer spaniel, alongside the river.
Her phone, still connected to a work call for her job as a mortgage adviser, was found just over 20 minutes later on a bench overlooking the riverbank, with her dog running loose.
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Missing Nicola ‘had alcohol issues’
Since she vanished, huge public and media interest has resulted in what police described as “false information, accusations and rumours”.
Police insist an “unprecedented” search – of both the River Wyre, downstream to Morecambe Bay and miles of neighbouring farmland – has taken place to find her.
Three men have been jailed for a combined total of 99 years for plotting to murder a member of a gang that carried out Britain’s biggest-ever cash robbery.
Paul Allen, 46, was shot twice as he stood in his kitchen in Woodford, east London, on 11 July 2019.
He was a member of the Securitas heist gang that stole £54m from a cash depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006.
The former cage fighter was living in a large detached rented house with his partner and three young children after being released from an 18-year prison sentence over the raid.
The attack at his home has left him paralysed from the chest down.
Louis Ahearne, 36, Stewart Ahearne, 46, and Daniel Kelly, 46, denied conspiring to murder Allen but were found guilty last month following a trial at the Old Bailey.
The trio were sentenced at the Old Bailey in central London on Friday.
Kelly was sentenced to 36 years in prison and an extra five years on licence, Louis Ahearne was jailed for 33 years, and his sibling Stewart Ahearne – 30 years.
Damage to the kitchen door. Pic: Met Police/PA
A bullet casing found in the back garden. Pic: Met Police
Prosecutors did not give a motive for the murder plot, though they described the victim as a “sophisticated” career criminal.
Detectives said the shooting could seem like “the plot [of] a Hollywood blockbuster” but added it was actually “horrific criminality” from “hardened organised criminals”.
In her sentencing remarks, the judge said she believed the trio “were motivated by a promise of financial gain”.
Judge Sarah Whitehouse KC said: “I have no doubt that this agreement to murder Paul Allen involved other people apart from the three of you and that you three were motivated by a promise of financial gain.
“The culpability of each one of you is very high.
“The harm caused to the victim was very serious – indeed, short of killing him it could hardly be more serious. He is currently paralysed and relies on others for every single need.”
The shooting was just the latest act in a long list of criminal deeds. The day before, Kelly and Louise Ahearne used a rented car to carry out a burglary in Kent, accessing the gated community by pretending to be police officers.
A month before that, the trio had stolen more than $3.5m (£2.78m) worth of Ming dynasty antiques from the Museum of Far Eastern Arts in Geneva, for which the Ahearne brothers had been jailed in Switzerland.
Kelly is also wanted in Japan over the robbery of a Tokyo jewellery store in 2015 in which a security guard was punched in the face.
A man has been jailed for life for the murder of university lecturer Claire Chick.
Paul Butler was sentenced to a minimum term of 27 years for killing his estranged wife after a six-month campaign of stalking and harassment when he refused to accept their relationship was over.
Ms Chick, 48, was found seriously injured on West Hoe Road in Plymouth just before 9pm on 22 January. She was taken to hospital, but died the next day.
Previously known as Claire Butler, Ms Chick worked at the University of Plymouth.
Paul Butler has been jailed for murder. Pic: Devon & Cornwall Police
She died after a frenzied attack outside her home – the attack a culmination of months of harassment, stalking and violence at the hands of Butler.
Following her death, Devon and Cornwall Police made a referral to the police watchdog due to previous contact prior to her death.
Jo Martin KC, prosecuting, said Ms Chick had made six statements to the police about Butler and he had been arrested three times.
In her final statement to police the day before he killed her outside her own home, she said: “I only feel that Butler will kill me if further action is not taken. I am in fear of leaving my house.”
Butler was arrested around 20 miles away in the Liskeard area on 24 January.
He was sentenced on Friday at Plymouth Crown Court, having previously pleaded guilty to murder, and to one charge of possession of a bladed article.
‘I loved Claire’
The family of Ms Chick told the court how her murder left a “huge void” in their lives.
Her eldest daughter, Bethany Hancock-Baxter, described Butler as “evil”.
She said: “I want this evil man to listen to me. I want you to know what you have done to us as a family.
“Despite all the hate I have for you, I cannot bring myself to do what you did to my mum – that’s because I am not evil like you.”
Her sister, Lydia Peers, said Butler was a “parasite”.
After her short-lived marriage to Butler, Ms Chick began a relationship with another man, Paul Maxwell.
Mr Maxwell spoke from the witness box and repeatedly stared at the defendant as he spoke. Butler stared back at him.
“I loved Claire. She was beautiful, funny and kind,” Mr Maxwell said.
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UK
Vincent Nichols: British cardinal who will be in the conclave says picking the next pope is ‘intimidating’
The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has told Sky News it’s “intimidating” to be one of those responsible for choosing the next pope.
Vincent Nichols is among four UK cardinals in Rome for the Pope’s funeral on Saturday.
Following the funeral, and after nine days of mourning, cardinals from around the world will gather in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel to cast their votes, with white smoke announcing to the world when a new pope has been elected.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols speaks to Sky’s Anna Botting
Cardinal Nichols told Sky’s Anna Botting: “I hope nobody goes into this conclave, as it were, with the sole purpose of wanting to win. I think it’s very important that we go in wanting to listen to each other… It has to be together, trying to sense what God wants next. Not just for the church.”
He described the procession that took Pope Francis to lie in state as “the most moving thing I’ve ever attended here”.
Describing the Pope as a “master of the gesture and the phrase”, he also recalled the pontiff’s last journey away from the Vatican.
Cardinal Nichols said Pope Francis had visited the Regina Coeli prison, telling the inmates: “You know, except for the grace of God, it could well have been me … Don’t lose hope, God has you written in his heart.”
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‘Pope touched the hearts of millions’
The Pope later told his doctor his last regret was not being able to wash the feet of the prisoners during that visit.
Becoming emotional, he also said the final message he would like to have given Pope Francis is “thank you”.
The 88-year-old died peacefully on Easter Monday, the Vatican confirmed.
Heads of state – including Sir Keir Starmer, Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Emmanuel Macron – have all confirmed their attendance at his funeral, which takes place on Saturday at St Peter’s Square.
Prince William will attend on behalf of the King, Kensington Palace has said.
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Where will Pope Francis be buried?
Talking about the seating plan at the funeral, Cardinal Nichols said he understood it to be “royalty first, then heads of state, then political leaders”.
Worldwide geopolitical tensions mean that many eyes will be on interactions between heads of state at the event, with particular focus on Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenskyy following their tense meeting at the Oval Office in February.
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Pope’s cause of death confirmed .
Looking back at the last papal funeral, Cardinal Nichols described the seating of the then Prince Charles one seat away from Zimbabwean present Robert Mugabe as “obviously a little bit tense”.
Cardinal Nichols explained event would be “exactly the same Catholic rite as everyone else – just on a grander scale”.
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3D map shows pope’s funeral route
In a break from tradition, Pope Francis will be the first pope in a century to be interred outside the Vatican – and will instead be laid to rest at his favourite church, Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood.
He will also be buried in just one simple wooden coffin, instead of the traditional three coffins which are usually used for pontiffs.
Born in Crosby near Liverpool, Cardinal Vincent Nichols hoped to be a lorry driver as a child – but as a teenager reportedly felt the calling to join the priesthood while watching Liverpool FC.
As cardinal, he is known for leading the church’s work tackling human trafficking and modern slavery, for which he received the UN Path to Peace Award.
He was criticised by the UK’s Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which said he “demonstrated a lack of understanding” of the impact of abuse and “seemingly put the reputation of the church first”.
Cardinal Nichols, responding to the findings, previously told Sky News he was “ashamed at what has happened in the context of the Catholic Church” and promised to improve the church’s response.
He has appeared to rule himself out of the running for pope, telling reporters he was “too old, not capable”.
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