A former Scotland Yard detective has condemned the police force investigating the disappearance of missing mother Nicola Bulley after revealing she had alcohol issues.
The 45-year-old went missing last month during a riverside dog walk in St Michael's on Wyre and Lancashire Police yesterday announced the mother-of-two had ‘significant issues’ with alcohol brought on by her ongoing struggles with menopause.
Yet the police have been criticised by some for disclosing such personal information about Nicola, including former officer Peter Bleksley, who appeared on This Morning on Thursday.
The ex detective described Lancashire Police’s communications as ‘pretty appalling’ through the case, as he spoke with co-hosts Dermot O’Leary and Josie Gibson.
He said: “They’ve completely done a U-turn of letting the world know Nicola had difficult alcohol problems connecting to her issues with the menopause.
“That’s a complete about face and is symptomatic of a very, very poor media and communications strategy. If they were going to do it they should have laid everything bare from the off.”
The force also said officers were called to a concern for welfare report at her home last month, adding they had decided to disclose these details as it was ‘important to clarify what we meant when we talked about vulnerabilities to avoid any further speculation or misinterpretation’.
Peter went on to note: “In the early stages a picture was painted of Nicola by her friends and family – very understandably – but of course nobody is perfect.
“With the media attention on this case like it is and the public interest, which is so considerable, of course people were going to speculate and journalists were going to investigate.”
He went on to say the genie was ‘always’ going to come out of the bottle, adding: “But it happened in a very ham-fisted, unprofessional and unsatisfactory way.”
When asked how he would have approached the case, Peter stressed he would have been open about Nicola’s alcohol issues from the outset of her disappearance.
“Perhaps the family and the police have tried to hold things back,” he said, “but they were always going to be exposed.
“There is always a coroner’s inquest and invariably all the information comes out and is made public.
“The naivety on behalf of Lancashire 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.”
