'Nicola Bulley had 'significant issues with alcohol'
Statement from Lancashire Police:
Last updated 15th Feb 2023
Police in Lancashire have confirmed Nicola Bulley had suffered with a 'significant issue with alcohol' in the months leading up to her dissapearance.
In a statement this evening (15th January) they confirmed an officer was sent to her family home just weeks before she went missing.
A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said:
"Nicola’s family continue to be our absolute focus and our thoughts remain with them.
We have specially trained officers who continue to support them and update them daily.
We have described how Nicola had some vulnerabilities at the time she went missing and we just wanted to expand on that a little.
Sadly, it is clear from speaking to Paul and the family that Nicola had in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol which were brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause and that these struggles had resurfaced over recent months. This caused some real challenges for Paul and the family.
As a result of those issues, a response car staffed by both police and health professionals attended a report of concern for welfare at Nicola’s home address on January 10th. No one has been arrested in relation to this incident, but it is being investigated.
It is an unusual step for us to take to go into this level of detail about someone’s private life, but we felt it was important to clarify what we meant when we talked about vulnerabilities to avoid any further speculation or misinterpretation.
We have explained to Nicola’s family why we have released this further information and we would ask that their privacy is respected at this difficult time."