Chief Constable Andy Marsh from the College of Policing says the release of personal information about Nicola Bulley’s health struggles was “avoidable and unnecessary”. The body of Ms Bulley, 45, a mother-of-two, was found in the River Wyre on February 19, about a mile from where she vanished, while walking her dog in St Michael's on Wyre, Lancashire, on January 27. Report by Blairm. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
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00:00 There is no doubt how hard the communications team worked during this investigation.
00:04 Many worked long hours, provided sound advice and tried their absolute best.
00:09 But we found the constabulary did not recognise the extent of the media interest in this case,
00:14 or the impact it was having on public confidence.
00:17 The coverage of Nicholas' disappearance was on a par with many national media stories in recent
00:23 times and was one of, if not the most, high profile media incident that Lancashire Constabulary has
00:29 ever experienced. One of the decisions which has arguably the most significant impact on
00:35 public confidence was the release of personal information about Nicholas' health. We found
00:40 that due process was followed in this decision and that it was lawful, but we are in no doubt
00:45 that releasing this information in the manner the constabulary did was both avoidable and
00:51 unnecessary. Whilst there is substantial learning for the constabulary, there are also findings and
00:56 recommendations for policing nationally. The review found the wider relationship between the police
01:02 and the media to be fractured and identified that action needs to be taken on all sides to help
01:07 build trust. The impact of social media on policing was illustrated starkly and the
01:13 significance for investigations and public confidence must also be acknowledged.