Underwater search expert Peter Faulding has strongly responded to people online who have accused him of having ulterior motives for helping to search for missing Nicola Bulley. The diving expert, who was not being paid for his services, said his team do not deserve some of the "trash" they have been accused of.
He was speaking after calling off their search on Wednesday night after finding no clues in the search for the mum-of-two who has been missing for nearly two weeks.
Mr Faulding, who has 25 years experience in helping police searches and who helped in the case of murdered Welsh schoolgirl April Jones, answered critics after updating Nicola's partner Paul Ansell on the search. Live updates on the search can be found here.
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The search expert said his team "categorically" do not think Nicola is in the section of the river where detectives believe she fell in. He said: “We’ve done very thorough searches all the way down to the weir. Police divers have dived it three times, extremely thoroughly.
“That area is completely negative – there is no sign of Nicola in that area. The main focus will be the police investigation down the river, which leads out to the estuary. If Nicola was in that river I would have found her – I guarantee you that – and she’s not in that section of the river.”
He told reporters that he believes it is “unlikely” that she has been swept out to sea, adding: “My personal view is that I think it is a long way to go in a tidal river.”
But as well as people who have praised Mr Faulding and his team for the work they have done, there has also been critics who have questioned his motives for getting involved.
When asked on TalkTV about the detractors who have been commenting online saying he has ulterior motives, he said: "I have given my time to many cases free of charge. We get paid to do police diving operations, but I offered my services free of charge for a whole week in the April Jones case. There was no media around. I never gave any interviews for that. I donate life jackets for kids in schools, I do a lot for charity, I don't need publicity.
"The press have come to me for this. If I don't give information then I get slated. I am damned if I do and damned if I don't. There is no ulterior motive for me."
He suggested that people criticising him online should come out looking for dead people in murky waters at 3am and what someone being pulled out of the water.
Adding: "They are heartless individuals, and they need to go and watch the paramedics work at night, and the other emergency services dealing with the sort of grief we have to deal with."
Later he added on Twitter: "This is what you get for trying to help people. I have given my life to helping families looking for missing loved ones. Do our job searching in dark murky waters for a drowning victims. My team and I don’t deserve this trash."
There was a lot of support to his message on Twitter, with one saying: "It's not the majority of people doing this, Peter. It's a loud, small, nasty and vicious brigade. Most people are standing applauding you for your efforts and devotion. Listen to us instead. Let our thanks and respect make the bigger noise."
Another said: "I’ve worked with @peter_faulding & his team in all weathers & they’ve found bodies. They’re total professionals who bring closure to families & evidence to investigators. They’ve done loads for free previously, they don’t just sit there. If you can’t say anything nice shut up!"
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