Nicola Bulley diver Peter Faulding slams new documentary claims and shares sonar images 'showing body in river'

4 October 2024, 10:52 | Updated: 4 October 2024, 12:49

A diver who helped in the search for missing mum Nicola Bulley has criticised claims made in a new documentary into her disappearance - saying it is time to defend himself and "stand up for the truth".

Peter Faulding has hit back at the portrayal of him in the new documentary, 'Finding Nicola' after he was criticised for his 'confidence' in the search for the mum-of-two, adding he was "adamant" he could find her.

As the search progressed, the specialist diver began to question whether she was in the water and claimed there may have been "third party involvement" - leading to further speculation into her whereabouts before she was finally found in the River Wyre.

In response, Mr Faulding said the documentary "portrayed myself and my team unfairly and I want to set the record straight".

He claims to have located her within six minutes on February 7 and has now released previously unseen sonar images which he says show her body on the bottom of the river, near the bench.

However, he claims this evidence was "not fully investigated or disclosed to the public."

He added: "My statement that ‘if Nicola was there, I would have found her’ comes from nearly 3 decades of experience.

"Since 1999, I have pioneered the use of side scan sonar for forensic and underwater search in the UK.

"I make no apologies for being confident in my and my team’s skills," he added.

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He has also shared "with regret" sonar images of what he claims is the body of Nicola in a foetal position at the bottom of the River Wyre.

He says: "Nicola was in the non-tidal part of the river approximately 75 m downstream from the bench.

"She was not found initially by NWUSU by divers or their sonar and then missed once again when they investigated my target.

"In my vast experience, we have never recovered a body that has floated after drowning, our data shows that a drowning victim sinks either straight away or drifts a short distance whilst struggling until they drown," he said in a letter to the College of Policing.

'Poking a monster'

Her disappearance sparked a social media frenzy until her body was found in the river on February 19 - three weeks after she vanished.

Nicola's partner Paul Ansell said the family believed the first wave of interest in the case was a positive thing and hoped it would keep the pressure on Lancashire Police to keep searching for her.

However, his hopes changed following a wave of amateur social media "sleuths" posting misleading and far-fetched claims about her disappearance - with the family receiving toxic online abuse.

"I think anything like that is a double-edged sword," he adds. "That's the problem. You're poking a monster."

The hunt for Bulley was one of the most substantial missing person searches in England for years, involving underwater search teams, drones, mounted police, drones and a police helicopter.

The frenzy of speculation saw 6,500 international articles written about the hunt in the space of one day, and TikTok videos with the hashtag of her name had 270 million views.Lancashire Police press office logged more than 500 media calls and 75,000 inbound social media comments on the case in about one month.

As the search continued, so-called "amateur detectives" began travelling to Lancashire to investigate for themselves.

As their fascination with the case exploded, police became more concerned they could interfere with the case.

A review into Lancashire Police also found that disclosure of personal information about Ms Bulley's health struggles was "avoidable and unnecessary".

The family said in the documentary they were not happy about her struggles being revealed to the public, with Paul saying Nicola would have been “mortified”.

The force came under fire for how it made public details of her medical situation available amid the social media frenzy.

Caller condemns police for releasing Nicola Bulley's health details

Once discovered, the mum-of-two had was identified through her dental records after the sad discovery was made.

Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour, who carried out the post mortem, gave her cause of death as drowning.

The expert said she believed Nicola was alive when she entered the water and confirmed there was no sign she had been assaulted before her death and no indication of third party involvement.

No grounds for misconduct, says review into Nicola Bulley investigation

The police handling of the inquiry was criticised after her body was found in the river around a mile farther downstream from the bench, on February 19.

The media was also criticised.

Police had urged people not to speculate about the disappearance and maintained from early on there were no suspicious circumstances and that Ms Bulley may have gone into the water due to an “issue” with her springer spaniel dog, Willow.

LBC has approached the BBC, the College of Policing and Lancashire Police for comment.