Former GMP top cop hits out at 'armchair critics' in missing Nicola Bulley case

A former Greater Manchester Police boss has hit back at police criticism over the handling of missing Nicola Bulley's case, calling policing a 'thankless task'.

Ian Hanson QPM told the Manchester Evening News the 'very sad' disappearance highlighted how 'everything is twisted' to support a narrative that police are 'corrupt and incompetent'. He said officers are 'people not uniforms' who 'deserve to be valued and thanked for what they do on our behalf'.

It comes after Lancashire Police have faced harsh criticism for revealing that missing mum-of-two Nicola Bulley struggled with alcohol issues 'brought on by the menopause'. They say the issues made her 'high risk'.

READ MORE: Nicola Bulley's dad says 'every day a struggle' three weeks on from when she went missing

Hanson, who is a former chairman of the GM Police Federation and received his Queen's Police Medal in 2017, told the M.E.N that in 'every corner of the UK' police officers will be 'punched, kicked, spat at, and stabbed' while doing their job. He urged 'armchair critics' to 'get off your backside and show them how its done'.

"This disappearance of Nicola Bulley is very sad, but what it has highlighted is what a thankless task it is to be a police officer in modern Britain," he said.

"Everyone knows better, everyone criticises regardless of how hard they work.

"Yet today in every corner of the UK our police officers will keep going and be punched, kicked, spat at and stabbed just for keeping us safe. They will just keep going and doing their job.

"These are people, not just uniforms, and they deserve to be valued and thanked for what they do on our behalf, and to those who know better get off your backside and join the specials and show them how it’s done."

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