Latest news with #NicolaBulley
Metro
27-05-2025
- Metro
Why it was important police pointed out the Liverpool suspect is white
Moments after a car tore into fans celebratingLiverpool's 20th Premier League title, social media flooded with false claims that the driver was a Muslim man. Almost 50 people, including four children, were wounded, with some even trapped under the vehicle as the horror unfolded. As emergency services responded on the ground, a different narrative was taking hold online. Anonymous accounts quickly fuelled speculation, deploying fake images, misleading captions and claims backed by no evidence to push an Islamophobic narrative. But Merseyside Police were quick to put an end to online misinformation spreading in a move described as 'unprecedented'. Wake up to find news on your club in your inbox every morning with Metro's Football Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your team in the link we'll send you so we can get football news tailored to you. Learning from past mistakes, Merseyside Police moved to shut down the rumours. Within two hours, they confirmed that a white male, aged 53, was arrested and that the incident was not being treated as terrorism. In July last year, Merseyside Police faced criticism for the lack of information released in the wake of the murders of three girls in Southport. Peter Williams, lecturer in policing at Liverpool John Moores University, described it as a 'complete step change' in how the force is managing the public discourse. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the quicker response was very different to what happened after the Southport terror attack in July 2024. He said: It has been a shift, because, particularly in relation to the aftermath of Southport… 'There was a lot of criticism focused at Merseyside Police and of course the CPS, in relation to how the management of information was sort of dealt with. 'But also, if listeners cast their mind back further, is the investigation into Nicola Bulley as how the management of the information was responded to on that occasion. That led to a College of Policing inquiry.' He said one of the recommendations made after the Southport attack was to prevent any 'vacuums' of information in future incidents, particularly ifthere is harmful online content. Mr Williams continued: 'It was no surprise to me last night that within an hour or so, we got a statement to say what had happened and that somebody, a male, had been detained. Later on, there was a press conference led by the Assistant Chief Constable, where she shared a lot more information.' To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent, Dal Babu, said it was 'unprecedented' that the police 'very quickly' gave the ethnicity and race of the suspect. He told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'What we do have, which is unprecedented, is the police very quickly giving the ethnicity and the race of the person who was driving the vehicle… and it was Merseyside Police who didn't give that information with the Southport horrific murders of those three girls, and the rumours were that it was an asylum seeker who arrived on a boat and it was a Muslim extremist and that wasn't the case. 'So I think what the police have done very, very quickly, and I've never known a case like this before where they've given the ethnicity and the race of the individual who was involved in it, so I think that was to dampen down some of the speculation from the far-right that sort of continues on X even as we speak that this was a Muslim extremist and there's a conspiracy theory.' Merseyside Police assistant chief constable Jenny Sims stressed that it is 'vital' that people do not speculate or spread misinformation online. During last night's press conference, she said: 'I know that people will understandably be concerned by what has happened tonight. 'What I can tell you is that we believe this to be an isolated incident, and we are not currently looking for anyone else in relation to it. The incident is not being treated as terrorism.' Alison McGovern, MP for Birkenhead, also called on members of public not to speculate following the 'really awful' incident. She felt 'so devastated' after spending four hours at the Liverpool's Premier League victory parade. Asked about how important the police announcement of an arrest was, the Labour MP said: 'The police gave out some very clear messages yesterday, not least that if people have got footage or anything that might be useful to them, then please, please give it to Merseyside Police and do not speculate on the internet or share things like that. 'In Merseyside, the police have been through quite a lot in recent times and they' are very, very capable, and I would ask people to listen to them and to do as they've asked.' It did not take long after the attack for disinformation to spread on social media, suggesting that the suspect is a Muslim man. Pictures of a man present at the parade were circulated online, identifying him by name, and claiming that he was behind the wheel of the car. More Trending But the man was later seen in the crowd, celebrating with other Liverpool fans. One account on X, authenticated by the app as a 'parody account', asked if the driver was 'a Ukrainian or a Muslim', claiming it is 'always one or the other'. 'Either a 'refugee' from a Nato-fuelled war zone or another radical jihadist let in under Britain's open border suicide pact,' the post added. Others even suggested that Merseyside Police is purposely misleading the public that the suspect is a white man. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: Four people still 'very ill in hospital' after car crashed into Liverpool fans MORE: Crowds held back from lunging into police van after Liverpool victory parade crash MORE: Liverpool open to surprise summer exit in huge shake-up of forward line
BBC News
20-03-2025
- BBC News
Missing persons review petition reaches 20,000 signatures
A young man's petition for the government to review how missing person cases are handled has gained more than 20,000 signatures since Thornbury, 19, from Malmesbury, Wiltshire, began a Facebook group in 2023 called Missing People - Lost and Loved, which currently has about 5,000 group was an unofficial online space for people helping to search for Nicola Bulley, who went missing walking her dog in Lancashire in to families, he says he has heard about a lack of communication between police forces, delays in releasing CCTV footage and not enough support. "Some families just feel left without answers, they feel hopeless," he said. 'Push for change' Mr Thornbury said that during the Nicola Bulley case, people had organised searches through the Facebook petition on is to "bring this to the attention of the UK Ministers of State responsible for policing, urging them to review and improve the handling and support provided for missing persons cases".Mr Thornbury said: "I've been talking to families for over two years and one thing that comes up is police forces are not giving enough support, and it comes up far too often."I'm willing to really push for some change," he has noticed families complaining of a "lack of communication" between different police forces if their missing loved one travels, as well as a delay in the release of CCTV footage. Currently working part-time at a supermarket, Mr Thornbury is already well-known in his area as an avid community worker, organising litter-picking and campaigning for pothole repairs. He started taking an interest in missing person cases two years ago when he noticed teenagers going missing locally."People needed posters creating and I had the expertise through college to make them - it was greatly appreciated."Working with people from other missing person groups too, he says he goes through social media and, when he sees a case that people need a poster for, he will offer and ask for the police reference number to check the post is not fake. Families can then distribute it. About 170,000 people are reported missing to the police every year in the UK, according to the National Crime Agency's Missing Persons people are found, said Mr Thornbury. "A woman's grandson went missing for around a week, and because of the publicity we got and the posters, he was found," he Thornbury has worked with billboard companies to highlight the issue, once paying £500 out of his own pocket for a campaign in future, he hopes to meet more families in person and establish a registered charity. Dep Ch Con Catherine Hankinson, national policing lead for missing people, explained that forces investigated hundreds of reports every day, each of which needed to be individually says they understand how "traumatic it can be for families" but there is a right to privacy if someone chooses to leave their home and go missing."We accept that there will always be room for improvement in investigations, which is why the national Missing People Policing Group works to improve the police and partnership response to missing people," she said.
Telegraph
27-02-2025
- Telegraph
Female officer nicknamed ‘hot cop' leaked details about Nicola Bulley
A female police officer nicknamed 'hot cop' leaked confidential information about Nicola Bulley to her friends and family. Molly Bury, 28, the former police constable, illegally accessed the Police National Computer database to get intimate updates about the missing mother-of-two's case, while it was still ongoing, so she could share them with friends and family. When one friend kept pressing her for more information, Bury, who worked for Lancashire police at the time, said: 'I will get in s— if they see me checking.' When pressed again she added: 'I have not checked. I cannot keep checking. I will get into trouble.' She faced up to two years in jail under sentencing guidelines but was handed six months in prison, suspended for 12 months, after a judge ruled she was 'profoundly immature' and 'not corrupt'. Gayle McCoubrey, prosecuting, said the unnamed member of the public contacted police in March 2023, after overhearing Bury's mother, Andrea Mercer, sharing information about a rape that had occurred in Lancashire. 'She was heard to say, 'I asked Molly. She checked her police thing and she said it was a rape,'' the court heard. Police systems then identified that Bury had viewed logs on a police-issued Samsung device while off duty. Investigations revealed Bury, who was nicknamed 'hot cop' by locals after a crime prevention workshop, had been accessing the police logs between October 2019 and March 2023 to share 'idle gossip' for ''no policing purpose'. She also obtained information on the death of a baby, a stabbing and a preplanned arrest of a robbery suspect. She admitted she had been 'stupid and nosey' but insisted she was not 'malicious'. Most of the information was accessed when she was on annual or sick leave. Bury resigned from the force while under investigation, Lancashire police said. Had she not already resigned she would have been dismissed, a misconduct hearing last year found. Bulley, 45, was found dead in the River Wyre at St Michael's on Wyre in Feb 2023 following a three-week search which provoked wild speculation on social media. A coroner later concluded she had drowned after accidentally falling into the water while walking her dog. 32 charges of unauthorised access to logs Bury, a mother-of-one from Accrington in Lancashire, appeared at Chester magistrates' court and admitted to 32 charges of unauthorised access to police logs. Police raided Bury's home and recovered a mobile phone which showed she had sent confidential information about various police incidents. In October 2019, she sent details about a stabbing incident which she had attended to a friend named Elliott, saying: 'The lad from [the] stabbing survived.' She later sent him further messages saying: 'A hit and run just came in. Woman probably going to die. Car drove onto the pavement into this lad and girl.' In a further message regarding a dead baby found in Dec 2019, Bury said: 'Oh my God, it is a one-year-old child.' On a day off she sent further texts, saying to Elliott: 'Undercover police are outside your address,' to which he replied: 'F— the feds.' At 10.59am on Jan 29 2023, Bury was on a sick day when her friend, a woman named Amy Sanderson, asked: 'Any update on Nicky?' to which she replied: 'I will get in s— if they see me checking,' Ms McCoubrey told the court. Ms McCoubrey added: 'At 11.01am, she accessed the Samsung device and searched again and a further message was sent regarding Nicola Bulley. 'At 6.33pm, Ms Sanderson sent a message saying 'Any update?' and Bury replied: 'I have not checked. I cannot keep checking. I will get into trouble.'' Ms McCoubrey told the court: 'It is difficult to assess the harm as we do not know what the outcome was from accessing that information. She was spreading gossip or sensitive information. There was no policing purposes for this defendant to access the logs on these occasions.' Bury was also ordered to complete 30 days of rehabilitation activity and pay £154 in costs and surcharge. Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram said: 'These are not corrupt messages. There is no money involved. There is no suggestion this is a criminal fraternity. 'She clearly knew what she was doing was wrong, but the harm is damage to the reputation of police and confidence in policing. It was immature gossiping throughout. She was doing work without any insight into the job. It was tittle tattle nonsense much of it.' Det Ch Insp Pete Reil, from the force's anti-corruption unit, said: 'Molly Bury's behaviour fell way below what the constabulary expects and what the public would expect of a serving police officer. 'I want to make it clear that the overwhelming majority of police officers in Lancashire are law abiding, respectful and go to work to make a difference in the communities in which they serve. 'Where there is any evidence of wrongdoing by an officer or staff member, our [anti-corruption unit] will identify it, investigate it and work with the Crown Prosecution Service to take the appropriate action.'
The Independent
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Netflix film ‘shaped by the voices of Grenfell's bereaved and survivors'
A new Netflix documentary will look at the chain of events leading up to the fire at Grenfell Tower and hear from the families and survivors impacted, its director has said. With a working title of Grenfell, the 90-minute film comes from Rogan Productions, who have made a documentary about Nicola Bulley, who went missing while walking her dog in Lancashire, and the killing of Stephen Lawrence for the BBC. Directed by Rio Ferdinand's Tipping Point producer Olaide Sadiq, it aims to 'painstakingly connect the long and disturbing chain of events that led to the disastrous' blaze, which killed 72 people in west London in 2017. Sadiq said: 'It's vital to convey the significance of the investigative findings, but we are equally committed to highlighting that Grenfell was a home — a place of comfort and safety for the residents – that was sadly compromised to the extent where people's right to safety was stripped away. 'This film has been shaped by the voices of Grenfell's bereaved and survivors, and those who fought for change long before the tragedy as well as after.' An inquiry into the blaze found that victims, bereaved and survivors were 'badly failed', a September report said. The tower block was covered in combustible products because of the 'systematic dishonesty' of firms that made and sold the cladding and insulation, inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said. Executive producer Soleta Rogan, managing director of Rogan Productions, said: 'We are immensely proud of the production team that has worked tirelessly to bring as many elements of the systemic failures to light as possible, and we are incredibly grateful to those affected by the tragedy in their various ways for sharing their stories and experiences with us.' The BBC has previously announced a three-part BBC drama series about Grenfell from director Peter Kosminsky, known for his TV adaptation of Wolf Hall and the Hollywood drama White Oleander. In 2023, the National Theatre ran a play called Grenfell: In The Words Of Survivors, based on the first-hand account of survivors of the blaze. The Netflix Grenfell film, also created by executive producers James Rogan and Sandy Smith, is set to be released this year, and was announced along with other upcoming 2025 projects from the streaming company. Rogan Productions has made The Search For Nicola Bulley, and Stephen: The Murder That Changed A Nation documentaries for the BBC, along with Defiance: Fighting The Far-Right and Farage: The Man Who Made Brexit for Channel 4, and Zuckerberg: King Of The Metaverse for Sky.
Yahoo
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Netflix film ‘shaped by the voices of Grenfell's bereaved and survivors'
A new Netflix documentary will look at the chain of events leading up to the fire at Grenfell Tower and hear from the families and survivors impacted, its director has said. With a working title of Grenfell, the 90-minute film comes from Rogan Productions, who have made a documentary about Nicola Bulley, who went missing while walking her dog in Lancashire, and the killing of Stephen Lawrence for the BBC. Directed by Rio Ferdinand's Tipping Point producer Olaide Sadiq, it aims to 'painstakingly connect the long and disturbing chain of events that led to the disastrous' blaze, which killed 72 people in west London in 2017. Sadiq said: 'It's vital to convey the significance of the investigative findings, but we are equally committed to highlighting that Grenfell was a home — a place of comfort and safety for the residents – that was sadly compromised to the extent where people's right to safety was stripped away. 'This film has been shaped by the voices of Grenfell's bereaved and survivors, and those who fought for change long before the tragedy as well as after.' An inquiry into the blaze found that victims, bereaved and survivors were 'badly failed', a September report said. The tower block was covered in combustible products because of the 'systematic dishonesty' of firms that made and sold the cladding and insulation, inquiry chairman Sir Martin Moore-Bick said. Executive producer Soleta Rogan, managing director of Rogan Productions, said: 'We are immensely proud of the production team that has worked tirelessly to bring as many elements of the systemic failures to light as possible, and we are incredibly grateful to those affected by the tragedy in their various ways for sharing their stories and experiences with us.' Just announced: @netflixuk has today announced the commission of Grenfell (w/t) (1×90'). Our film will painstakingly connect the long and disturbing chain of events that led to the disastrous #Grenfell Tower fire that claimed the lives of 72 people in west London in 2017. — Rogan Productions (@RoganProduction) January 30, 2025 The BBC has previously announced a three-part BBC drama series about Grenfell from director Peter Kosminsky, known for his TV adaptation of Wolf Hall and the Hollywood drama White Oleander. In 2023, the National Theatre ran a play called Grenfell: In The Words Of Survivors, based on the first-hand account of survivors of the blaze. The Netflix Grenfell film, also created by executive producers James Rogan and Sandy Smith, is set to be released this year, and was announced along with other upcoming 2025 projects from the streaming company. Rogan Productions has made The Search For Nicola Bulley, and Stephen: The Murder That Changed A Nation documentaries for the BBC, along with Defiance: Fighting The Far-Right and Farage: The Man Who Made Brexit for Channel 4, and Zuckerberg: King Of The Metaverse for Sky.
