The police force behind the search for Nicola Bulley is facing two investigations into its handling of the case amid further criticism of its release of highly personal details about the missing mother-of-two.
The College of Policing, the national policing standards body, is to launch a wide-ranging independent review of Lancashire constabulary’s investigation. The Lancashire police and crime commissioner, Andrew Snowden, said he ordered the review because “there remain questions” about how the force had handled the high-profile search.
It came as the police watchdog launched an investigation into the constabulary’s contact with Bulley, 45, before she went missing. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said it had launched an inquiry into the force’s contact with Bulley 17 days before she was last seen alive.
Lancashire constabulary referred itself to the IOPC last week after confirming that an officer had attended her home address owing to a “concern for welfare” on 10 January.
Bulley’s body was retrieved from the water after being spotted by two walkers on Sunday after a 23-day police search in the village of St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire.
Snowden thanked officers who carried out the search in difficult conditions, but said that the public “understandably feel that there remain questions about the handling of elements of the police investigation, how it was communicated, and the decision to release personal information, which need to be answered and explained”.
He added: “I have therefore taken the decision to commission a full independent review into the handling of this case, with clearly defined terms of reference, to ensure lessons can be learned, not just for Lancashire but for all forces. This includes how such cases can be best investigated and communicated under such spotlight and scrutiny.”
He said that it was important that a national independent body should conduct the review “given the amount of misinformation on social media, poorly informed opinions given national airtime, the attacks on senior leaders’ personal appearance and family lives, along with the intrusion into the privacy of Nicola’s family”.
Lancashire constabulary said it “welcomes the independent review that the police and crime commissioner has asked the College of Policing to conduct” into its handling of the case.
The investigations came as a coroner’s court heard on Wednesday that Bulley, 45, was identified by her dental records after her body was found in the River Wyre.
The senior coroner, Dr James Adeley, said a maxillofacial surgeon, Andrew Edwards, had been able to formally identify her on Monday, the day after she was found. Adeley said the surgeon concluded that restorative work carried out on Bulley was identical to that in her dental records.
He told Preston coroner’s court: “I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities, and more, that positive identification has been made.”
The hearing, which lasted about five minutes, was not attended by Bulley’s partner, Paul Ansell, or any other family.
The coroner said remaining evidence gathered by police and the postmortem required “further evaluation” and a full inquest was likely to be held in June. “This will allow time to collate the facts of the case and allow the experts involved to finalise the findings from investigations that still need to be undertaken,” he said.
Zoë Billingham, the former inspector of constabulary, said people might be more fearful of reporting loved ones missing after the force released highly personal information about Bulley.
Billingham described the disclosure as a “gross invasion of privacy” and told the PA news agency: “My message to women out there would be that if your loved one, if your mum or your sister went missing, what we’ve seen over the last few days is not OK, it’s not what we would ordinarily see in a missing persons investigation.”
Lancashire constabulary has launched an internal review into its handling of the case.
