LONDON: Three weeks ago, Nicola Bulley dropped her two daughters off at school and took her dog for a walk. Then she vanished. Her case prompted an intense police investigation and has dominated headlines across Britain. But it was a statement made this past week by local police force, revealing that she had “problems with alcohol” brought on by “ongoing struggles” with menopause, that has set off a national debate about exposing her private struggles. The unusual revelations by the police in Lancashire, in northwestern England, drew condemnation from lawmakers, raised questions about the legality of releasing such details to the public and added fuel to growing anger in UK about the treatment of women by the police.
Bulley, 45, has been missing since the morning of January 27 when she disappeared while walking her dog in a field in St Michael’s on Wyre, a village in Lancashire. While walking, Bulley, a mortgage adviser, logged on to a conference call for her work but stayed on mute with her video off, police said. Around 30 minutes later, herdog was found running by a nearby river, and her phone was found on a bench, still connected to the call. In the weeks since her disappearance, little progress has been made in uncovering what happened, despite numerous underwater searches in the river . On Wednesday, the Lancashire Constabulary, the local police force, released the highly personal information, saying that she “had in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol” that the police said were brought on by her ongoing struggles with menopause. Zoe Billingham, a former inspector for the Inspectorate of Constabulary, an independent police watchdog group in Britain, said the police statement “stopped me in my tracks. ” “There is no need to put the level of detail into the public domain as the force did. ”
Many policing experts said they were shocked by the police comments and have questioned the investigative value of sharing such painful details about Bulley three weeks after her disappearance. Some speculate that the police would not treat a missing man similarly.
Bulley, 45, has been missing since the morning of January 27 when she disappeared while walking her dog in a field in St Michael’s on Wyre, a village in Lancashire. While walking, Bulley, a mortgage adviser, logged on to a conference call for her work but stayed on mute with her video off, police said. Around 30 minutes later, herdog was found running by a nearby river, and her phone was found on a bench, still connected to the call. In the weeks since her disappearance, little progress has been made in uncovering what happened, despite numerous underwater searches in the river . On Wednesday, the Lancashire Constabulary, the local police force, released the highly personal information, saying that she “had in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol” that the police said were brought on by her ongoing struggles with menopause. Zoe Billingham, a former inspector for the Inspectorate of Constabulary, an independent police watchdog group in Britain, said the police statement “stopped me in my tracks. ” “There is no need to put the level of detail into the public domain as the force did. ”
Many policing experts said they were shocked by the police comments and have questioned the investigative value of sharing such painful details about Bulley three weeks after her disappearance. Some speculate that the police would not treat a missing man similarly.