Nicola Bulley: Man, 34, arrested over footage shot inside police cordon

Man arrested on suspicion of malicious communications offences

A man has been arrested over footage shot from inside a police cordon on the day the body of Nicola Bulley was found in the River Wyre.

The 34-year-old man from Kidderminster, Worcestershire, was arrested on suspicion of malicious communications offences and perverting the course of justice in connection with the investigation to find Ms Bulley.

The arrest relates to footage taken from inside a police cordon on 19 February and later posted online.

The man was held on Wednesday morning and has since been released on bail with conditions.

“Our priority is, and has always been, to support Nicola’s family and the wider community in St Michael’s. We hope this arrest provides reassurance that we take concerns seriously and will act on them,” Lancashire Police said.

It comes following reports of a number of apparent content creators descending on the village where Ms Bulley went missing.

Experts have claimed social media algorithms that reward controversial content fuelled the waves of online interest in Ms Bulley’s case.

During the investigation, Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith said social media users had been “playing their own private detectives”.

Ms Bulley’s body was discovered in the River Wyre over two weeks ago, around a mile from where the 45-year-old mortgage adviser was last seen walking her dog in late January.

A man and a woman walking their dog discovered the body and called police on Sunday morning.

The body was found on an unremarkable stretch of the river, just past a slight bend, a mile or so outside the village.

The mother vanished on 27 January after dropping off her two daughters, aged six and nine, at school. Her dog was later found running free, without its harness or lead on, and had not been in the water.

Ms Bulley’s mobile phone was found on a bench still connected to a work conference call and her dog’s harness was found under the bench.