ARMCHAIR DETECTIVES OUR VIEW

THE hunt for missing dog walker and mother of two Nicola Bulley is almost reaching the end of its first month and police are still making repeated calls for “armchair detectives” to stop hindering their investigation.

While interest in true crime has always held a fascination for the UK public, social media and the rise in Netflix cold case documentaries has only helped increase interest.

This poses important questions about the role of the press in solving crimes. Police have traditionally issued public appeals for information via the press, often with incredible results.

However, when does this go too far? Rather than providing useful information, in the case of Nicola Bulley, many people have used her disappearance as an opportunity to vent their own theories, criticise the police, or even further their own YouTube followings with videos shot from where she is thought to have gone missing.

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Police have now issued a rare order preventing the latter behaviour, but how much of their time went into following spurious leads and tackling online misinformation rather than trying to find the missing mother?

More importantly even is the effect this has on the families involved, including Nicola’s small children, who are surely the most innocent victims in this tragic tale.

David Worboys Thinking Aloud

PART of me would like to see my country’s footballers win the World Cup, especially under the leadership of Gareth Southgate and also to prove a point. But then I look at the pompous attitude of so many supporters, the general public, (“we won it in 1966”) and the media (“the dust is still settling in Doha after England’s defeat”) and I sigh.

In sport, playing at home is an enormous advantage. Federer always won the indoor tournament in Switzerland and Margaret Court won 11 major titles in Australia. The UK’s record number of Olympic medals was achieved in Britain in 2012. Henry Cooper knocked down Muhammad Ali in London. England reached the final of the UEFA Nations Cup in 2021 and the Lionesses won the World Cup in 2022. Both in London, England.