“Why’s he not talking?” Nicola Bulley’s partner talks about TikTok trolls, three years after her tragic death
When mum-of-two Nicola disappeared in January 2023, her family and the Lancashire village of St Michaels became the centre of speculation during the 23-day search to find her.
Her partner of 12 years, Paul, found himself under intense scrutiny and discussed his experience during a lecture at London School of Economics Law School on Monday during an event called ‘Mass Media, Justice and Me: A Victim’s Perspective’.
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It’s very, very intrusive, which was a horrible thing to experience on its own, let alone when you’re experiencing everything that we were. It can engulf you.
He explained: “I became a subject with the media, in the sense of, ‘where’s the partner? Why’s he not talking?’ sort of thing. I got out of the car, and I don’t think I knew what I was doing, really. I got out of the car, then I got collared by Sky, and the next minute, I was doing this interview. But then of course you’re, you know, psychoanalysed, analysed. Your eyes aren’t right, you’re smirking.
“It wasn’t the papers or the news. It was more TikTok. It’s very, very intrusive, which was a horrible thing to experience on its own, let alone when you’re experiencing everything that we were. It can engulf you.”
Nicola, 45, dropped her young daughters off at their primary school before embarking on a dog walk with springer spaniel Willow. She texted a friend before taking a Microsoft teams call. Her phone was found on a bench and Willow found roaming but Nicola was never seen alive again.
A massive search was undertaken with drones, helicopters and police search dogs all used to try and find the mortgage advisor. The hunt became the subject of worldwide speculation, with hundreds of amateur sleuths descending on the sleepy village of St Michaels and many online sharing theories and speculation.
Tragically, Nicola’s body was found in the River Wyre on February 19, 2023. An inquest later confirmed she died from drowning and was alive when she entered the water. Her death was accidental with no third party involvement.
A 143-page report into Lancashire Police’s handling of the case was later released citing errors of judgement around the allocation of resources and decision making and the ‘ avoidable and unnecessary’ disclosure of information around Nicola’s personal situation.
A statement released by the family read: “We will never be able to comprehend what Nikki had gone through in her last moments and that will never leave us. We will never forget Nikki, how could we, she was the centre of our world, she was the one who made our lives so special and nothing will cast a shadow over that.”