The police officer heading up the search for missing mum Nicola Bulley has been criticised for her appearance by a female journalist. But officers have leaped to the defence of Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith.
Daily Mail columnist Amanda Platell took to Twitter saying that Det Supt Smith looked like she was “auditioning for Love Island” at a critical press conference this week. In a tweet, Platell said: “Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith at press conference yesterday - skin tight navy dress, stilettos, poker straightened hair - whatever happened to a cop uniform!
"Or is she auditioning for Love Island for midlifers. Show some respect for a missing mother!”
Twitter account @SurreyDetective, run by a serving officer in Surrey, shared the outfits she wears to work, including a smart dress, a suit, and jeans with a warm jacket, reports SurreyLive.
She said: “Some of the outfits I wear as a female detective, depending on the role I am doing. All completely suitable.
"Let's focus instead on the difficult role we have, leading complex investigative strategies on serious criminal cases, working long hrs and being dedicated to our job.”
Retired murder detective SIO Colin Sutton agreed, replying: “Absolutely. Do you know I think her tweet annoyed me more than any other I have seen. In a particularly crowded field,” to which @SurreyDetective replied: “It was completely irrelevant, tasteless, and a personal attack for no reason and took the focus away from an incredibly serious matter for ‘likes’.”
Elsewhere, Daily Mail and Sun columnist Petronella Wyatt criticised Det Supt Smith for wearing a "sleeveless dress in February". Wyatt tweeted a photo of Det Supt Smith at the same press conference with the caption: "Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith seems to be using Nicola Bulley’s disappearance as a excuse to showcase her toned physique.
"Who wears a sleeveless dress in February? To those who say, does it matter what people wear to work? Yes, it does, when they are police officers."
The Liverpool Echo reported that Merseyside's most senior police officer Chief Constable Serena Kennedy replied: "On what level do you think that this is appropriate or newsworthy? I imagine that Rebecca’s priority is finding Nicola & supporting her family & friends - not listening to what the most of unpleasant & irrelevant comments like this."
Sir Peter Fahy, former chief at Greater Manchester Police, was also concerned about comments by some journalists about the appearance of Det Supt Smith following the police press conference on Wednesday, saying it had "created huge anger, particularly among senior police officers, and a number of female chief constables came out yesterday absolutely to condemn that and say how unfair it was - so this is just not helpful".
Nicola Bulley was last seen on a riverside dog walk in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire. The 45-year-old dialled into a work teams call for her job as a mortgage advisor before going missing.
The mother-of-two from Inskip dropped her two daughters, aged six and nine, off at school in St Michael's on Wyre before she disappeared. Lancashire Police launched a search on Friday, January 27 with specialist divers searching the river.
