A friend of Nicola Bulley has described the missing mother-of-two as “the most amazing mum ever” as she urged online critics to stop spreading false rumours.
Rishi Sunak and his home secretary have expressed “concern” over Lancashire Police’s decision to disclose private details about “specific vulnerabilities” that saw them immeiately label the 45-year-old a high-risk missing person after her disappearance on 27 January.
The force revealed on Wednesday that Ms Bulley had been struggling with alcohol use and symptoms of the peri-menopause, prompting alarm that the disclosure could spark pernicious false rumours on social media.
In comments reported by the Mail on Sunday, her friend Nadia Fell said: “Nikki is a normal mum. We all have ups and downs and being a mum is hard. Every day is a lesson. The menopause can be really tough.”
Urging critics to “please just stop”, Ms Fell added: “The rumours are starting that Nikki is an unfit mum … I will not hear it. Nikki is the most amazing mum ever. Those girls are her world.”
Ms Fell, whose daughter is friends with Ms Bulley’s youngest child – told the paper: “Many’s the time my daughter has spent time with Nikki without me and I’ve trusted her without question, why wouldn’t I?”.
The 39-year-old added: “Nikki is lovely. Anything that needed doing for the school – PTA stuff – she was always there for it.”
Her comments came as Labour’s shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper warned she was “very worried about the nature of the social media speculation and frenzy that there has been around this case”.
Revealing that she had received “further information” from Lancashire Police after raising concerns about the level of detail released by the force, Ms Cooper told the BBC: “My concern as well is that we focus on that [the police disclosures] at the expense of the focusing on the search for Nicola, which has to be the priority.”
Speaking to the same programme, Commons leader Penny Mordaunt said that police “clearly were motivated to try and explain why this case is a complex one”, adding: “But I think there are serious questions to be asked about why they wanted to reveal particular information.”
The force’s decision to reveal private details about Ms Bulley’s medical history is thought to have been prompted by fears that a tabloid newspaper was about to publish details about her struggles with the menopause, according to the Sunday Times.
“They made a mistake and over-re- acted,” a source familiar with the investigation told the outlet. “These kind of private details were never going to be published in any newspaper.”
The claim chimes with the statement released by Ms Bulley’s family the following day, in which they said: “As a family, we were aware beforehand that Lancashire Police, last night, released a statement with some personal details about our Nikki.
“Although we know that Nikki would not have wanted this, there are people out there speculating and threatening to sell stories about her. This is appalling and needs to stop.”
Her family added: “Nikki is such a wonderful daughter, sister , partner and mother and is missed dearly – we all need you back in our lives.
“Nikki, we hope you are reading this and know that we love you so much and your girls want a cuddle. We all need you home. You can reach out to us, or you can contact MissingPeople.org.uk. Don’t be scared, we all love you so very much.”
The search for the mortgage adviser – who disappeared while walking her dog along the river in St Michael’s on Wyre, leaving her phone still connected to a work call on a nearby bench – is now in its fourth week.
