Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Are we allowed to talk about Peter Faulding?

203 replies

Sep200024 · 19/02/2023 18:32

I just can’t understand what he was thinking??

On the one hand, very kindly donating his time and expertise.

On the other hand, he turned this case into a circus.

His categorical declarations sent people wild with speculation. It’s awful, and I just can’t understand why he did it.

OP posts:
notimagain · 20/02/2023 07:00

Pretty much every major industry has, around it's periphery, some individuals (often former employees in that particular line of work) who are able to talk to the press without fear of losing their job or facing other professional sanctions. There often labelled as "consultant" "commentator on", "expert", "former ...."

Because those individuals don't have a boss, or are now their own boss, they can be a bit relaxed with their comments and as a result some of the news agencies seem to have their phone numbers on speed dial.

What has gone with this expert isn't that unusual, but obviously very very high profile and very unfortunate in this particular case.

Huddersfieldlass · 20/02/2023 07:01

No he was working with the police divers, they had a long briefing with him they released a statement whilst he was there thanking him for his support to Lancashire Police.

“It’s been ten days now since Nicola went missing and I have two little girls who miss their mummy desperately and who need her back. This has been such a tough time for the girls especially but also for me and all of Nicola’s family and friends, as well as the wider community and I want to thank them for their love and support. We are also really grateful to Peter and his team from SGI for coming up and helping support the work of Lancashire Police as they continue their investigation. If anyone has any information which could help find Nicola, I urge them to get in touch with the police and help us provide the answers we all so badly need.”

1cupofmilk · 20/02/2023 07:03

Enidcat5 · 19/02/2023 22:59

What a nasty thread this is. Someone has lost their life, and Nicola's family are in hell waiting to find out if the body is her.

None of you know what happened, none of you know whether an industry expert was right or not, because you literally don't know what happened. You're dragging someone's name through the mud, when you've no idea what happened and none of this is helpful to the poor family involved.

Absolutely agree. The trolls have started a new witch hunt.

fairywhale · 20/02/2023 07:05

Neverknowinglyunderbold · 20/02/2023 01:42

But that’s not what the poster is saying and you know it. It’s unclear what the colour of your skin has to do with it or what extra validity you think it gives your comment.

The poster is right: this level of attention is never given to missing women of working class backgrounds or women from ethnic minorities. That is a fact. This is not about anything Nicola has done but rather the way society works and the biases that run through it.

Getting outrage about this sad fact that not all women are equal in the sight of society is itself outrageous because it means we can never achieve progress when people like you gaslight and deny reality.

All that said, the outcome is sad. Everyone wanted Nicola to be found safe. I am so devastated for her children.

She was of working class background.
Think you and a couple of others mean a different sort of background.

ThePollutedShadesOfPemberley · 20/02/2023 07:13

He looks like a complete tool now on the world stage.

Him bleating that he only had a day and his job was to look at the river bed only is lame when, prior to the body being found, he was holding himself up as an expert water and land search expert. He's basically saying that she was probably in the reeds and he doesn't look in reeds. There is no evidence that she was in the reeds.

He was adamant she wasn't in the river. End of.

Him being interviewed on TV and him wearing that disgusting tie made me want to kick the telly. He was all about self promotion. He should be ashamed of himself and I hope he doesn't sell one copy of his poxy book.

MySugarBabyLove · 20/02/2023 07:23

And let’s not forget that his narative changed after Nicola’s vulnerabilities emerged and he started going on about looking for whisky bottles.

despicable man.

electricmoccasins · 20/02/2023 07:28

TellMeAboutItAnotherTime · 19/02/2023 18:56

Sorry, but what did the police do wrong?

Nothing. They did nothing wrong.

electricmoccasins · 20/02/2023 07:37

I agree with a PP that for people local to the Fylde coast and who know that river well, we were all certain she was in there and would be very hard to find if that was indeed the case.

The neighbour, Charlotte Drake, was 100% certain she wasn't in the river. It's all over Facebook, telling people to back them. Another friend on Sky constantly calling out the police 'hypothesis'. Locals whipped this up too. Dan Walker is also a disgrace.

cakeorwine · 20/02/2023 07:39

I remember headlines in the Daily Mail - which also has a lot of questions for itself this morning

"She is definitely not in the river says dive expert."
"She could not have fallen in as she could stand up as it's shallow there"
"I will search the buildings and find her"

I think he needs to reflect as do many other people.

This disappearance has grabbed the attention of the media. Sadly there are many other missing people cases which don't grab the attention.

RIP Nicola

notimagain · 20/02/2023 07:41

None of you know what happened, none of you know whether an industry expert was right or not, because you literally don't know what happened.

That's true but personally I reckon it's not whether he was "right" or "wrong", it is whether he should have been expressing any opinion in public at all...

I think he has perhaps unwittingly made a case for Police forces retaining their underwater search teams, rather than sub-contracting in private contractors in when required.

HelloTreacle9 · 20/02/2023 07:48

One thing I don’t understand is why the police didn’t ask him to sign an NDA, so he couldn’t talk to the press about a live case. Perhaps because missing person rather than criminal enquiry. Comms strategy throughout has not been helpful.

bellac11 · 20/02/2023 07:48

I didnt realise he had his own business/self employed. This makes it harder for him to face accountability, unless of course his business is affected by the fact that he has been so unprofessional and inappropriate.

SilverGlitterBaubles · 20/02/2023 07:54

What this case highlights is the need for some kind of embargo on commentary or opinions from experts former police etc. on a live ongoing investigation. Report the facts, ask for witnesses to come forward and then ban all speculative commentary in the media. How many clicks and how much revenue did the stories generate in the DM for example? None of which was helpful and all completely unnecessary. Newspapers should not be allowed to interfere in police investigations and they certainly shouldn't profit from the misery of a family in turmoil.

MySugarBabyLove · 20/02/2023 08:00

This disappearance has grabbed the attention of the media. Sadly there are many other missing people cases which don't grab the attention. is that really such a bad thing though?

If you look at this case not one positive thing has come from it being in the press. Not one.

The police weren’t pushing the media line because it was suspected she was in the river all along. They didn’t believe anyone else to be involved, and so other than questioning people as to whether they’d seen her there didn’t need to be constant media speculation/attention.

I can absolutely understand why someone might want as much attention drawn to their loved one’s disappearance as possible. But I think that people should think twice after this about whether going to the press is really beneficial to anyone other than said press who make money out of this kind of thing, and the likes of Peter falding who used this as a platform to gain fame for himself (turns out it was infamy, ha ha ha) just at the time he’d published a book. How convenient this must have been for him. I wonder if he would have been so quick to come forward and give interviews and such if he wasn’t promoting his book at the time.

In terms of Nicola’s vulnerabilities, I think that questions also need to be asked about how much police need to respect a family’s wishes in this instance when not doing so ends up in this kind of circus. The reality is that her vulnerabilities came to light because someone threatened to sell the story to the press. If someone is vulnerable to that extent it’s rarely a secret in a small village, and was bound to come out in full detail. Even the alcohol issues.

RedHelenB · 20/02/2023 08:05

MucozadeOnLucozade · 19/02/2023 23:53

Guys it might be that she was tragically put there after the guy searched the water. It's all a horrible situation.

That is highly unlikely.

Renoir56 · 20/02/2023 08:08

Dan Walker has also gone down in my estimation after his ill timed interview with Nicola's partner. It was clear that this was a man suffering great stress yet it gave armchair detectives more ammunition for their outlandish theories. It should never have happened and it was all for Channel 5 ratings. I thought better of Dan Walker.

RedHelenB · 20/02/2023 08:11

Rodneyisaplonker · 19/02/2023 20:13

I suspect he’s going to say if he’d known about the vulnerabilities his search would have been different. Which would stand but if this Nicola, then it’s less than a mile. Which means they should have found her..

My first thought when the police said they thought she was in the river was suicide. They didn't have to spell it out for him, surely as a search diver that must be quite a common scenario?

ferneytorro · 20/02/2023 08:15

He is about to be interviewed on itv which is I suppose the daily mail on tv. I doubt he will be apologising which would be the only reason he should be on.

MySugarBabyLove · 20/02/2023 08:16

Guys it might be that she was tragically put there after the guy searched the water. It's all a horrible situation. oh give it a bloody rest.

Woman goes missing.

Police: “We believe she is in the river and there is no-one else involved. There is no evidence that a crime was committed.”

PF: “if she’s in the river I’ll find her within an hour” (next day) “within a day” (the day after) “she’s not in the river.”

Public: “that expert guy said she’s not in the river, so she’s not in the river. Let’s start breaking into buildings and stalking people and accusing the family and friends, if we make up enough stories about them then one of them is bound to be true. Oh, and if you want real facts you can read my threads here on mn which start with a helpful FAQ for anyone who wants to know about the case in depth.”

A week later, police: “Nicola had some vulnerabilities which we didn’t reveal beforehand out in deference to her family. We still believe she’s in the river and there is no evidence that a crime has been committed.”

People on the internet. “I wonder what the vulnerabilities were. Obviously the partner and the sister/friend/<insert person of choice> were having an affair, she was under investigation by social services y’know?”

Police: “we wanted to clarify that Nicola had some alcohol issues which had re-surfaced after the menopause”.

Public: How dare the police reveal her vulnerabilities.”

Family: “The police revealed Nicola’s struggles because someone had threatened to sell the story.”

Peter Falding: Maybe I was wrong, I didn’t have all the facts you see, maybe I need to search the river again. For whisky bottles and such.”

Police: “a body has been found in the river.”

Public: “it was probably never there. It was probably planted there. That expert bloke said it wasn’t in the river y’know.”

anybloodyname · 20/02/2023 08:22

He's on GMB now if anyone wants to watch

ferneytorro · 20/02/2023 08:23

Oh he’s got a fucking black polo neck on. Oh he’s doing the poor me routine, he’s being made the fall guy. Knob

SallyWD · 20/02/2023 08:25

I've seen so many people saying on Facebook/Twitter etc "I think the body was only just put there. They searched the river and she wasn't there." Seriously?! So the abductor/murderer is going to drag a body to a very public river in a park that's crawling with press, police and curious members of the public to dump it. Why?! If anyone had the body they'd put it far, far away from that area. I feel like some people desperately want it to be a murder for some reason. Bizarre.

MySugarBabyLove · 20/02/2023 08:36

Why? Why are they giving him airtime?

For once we need someone like Peers Morgan who would have ripped him a new one.

SweetSakura · 20/02/2023 08:41

MySugarBabyLove · 20/02/2023 08:16

Guys it might be that she was tragically put there after the guy searched the water. It's all a horrible situation. oh give it a bloody rest.

Woman goes missing.

Police: “We believe she is in the river and there is no-one else involved. There is no evidence that a crime was committed.”

PF: “if she’s in the river I’ll find her within an hour” (next day) “within a day” (the day after) “she’s not in the river.”

Public: “that expert guy said she’s not in the river, so she’s not in the river. Let’s start breaking into buildings and stalking people and accusing the family and friends, if we make up enough stories about them then one of them is bound to be true. Oh, and if you want real facts you can read my threads here on mn which start with a helpful FAQ for anyone who wants to know about the case in depth.”

A week later, police: “Nicola had some vulnerabilities which we didn’t reveal beforehand out in deference to her family. We still believe she’s in the river and there is no evidence that a crime has been committed.”

People on the internet. “I wonder what the vulnerabilities were. Obviously the partner and the sister/friend/<insert person of choice> were having an affair, she was under investigation by social services y’know?”

Police: “we wanted to clarify that Nicola had some alcohol issues which had re-surfaced after the menopause”.

Public: How dare the police reveal her vulnerabilities.”

Family: “The police revealed Nicola’s struggles because someone had threatened to sell the story.”

Peter Falding: Maybe I was wrong, I didn’t have all the facts you see, maybe I need to search the river again. For whisky bottles and such.”

Police: “a body has been found in the river.”

Public: “it was probably never there. It was probably planted there. That expert bloke said it wasn’t in the river y’know.”

This. This is exactly what had happened. And it has been so frustrating to watch. And I'm the last to pretend the police are perfect but they have been unfairly criticized in this instance. If anything the thing they did wrong was to bow down to public press and throw too many resources at it

Was also disappointing to see politicians wade in and criticise the police without thinking logically about the sequence of events that created the social media frenzy

MinceandMash · 20/02/2023 09:00

He was using Nicola’s disappearance to promote his book. He’s disgusting and even now can’t admit that he was wrong. A so called ‘expert’ who didn’t bother to check in the reeds. It would be laughable if it wasn’t so sad.

Swipe left for the next trending thread