Nicola Bulley Peter Faulding

Mr Faulding's Specialist Group International (SGI) joined the search for Nicola and asserted that she 'was not in that section of the river' three days ...

He also said he refused to be the "fall guy" for the probe. "We weren't searching the reeds, our job was to search the water," he said. [Nicola Bulley](https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/nicola-bulley-tiktok-ghoul-who-26334613?int_source=nba) was made a "scapegoat" and is "one of the world's best", a former police officer has said.

Specialist Group International (SGI), led by Mr Faulding, was suspended this week.

The database is subject to continual review and its purpose is to maintain a list of expertise UK law enforcement can draw upon when required. Most recently, he insisted he had been a “fall guy” in her disappearance. [missing mother Nicola Bulley](/topic/nicola-bulley) has been struck from the [National Crime Agency](/topic/national-crime-agency)’s (NCA) list of experts. Mr Faulding then declared to the press that the 45-year-old was not in the river and suggested her phone, discovered by a dog walker on the bench near where she disappeared, may have been a “decoy”. [Peter Faulding led a team of experts and divers](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nicola-bulley-location-body-river-wyre-map-b2287010.html) to assist [Lancashire Police in searching the river](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nicola-bulley-diver-body-river-wyre-peter-faulding-b2285890.html) for the missing dog walker using specialist sonar equipment. [describing the probe as “a mess” ](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nicola-bulley-forensics-lancashire-police-b2276110.html)and claiming details in the case “don’t add up”.

Mr Faulding said: "SGI's operational ability, integrity and professional search and rescue capabilities are not in question in these matters"

They used "high-frequency side scan sonar" to search the riverbed and "categorically" confirmed Nicola was not there. The 60-year-old denied giving her family "false hope" after insisting multiple times during his search that she was not in the river. "The story pertains to a confidential matter between SGI and the National Crime Agency. A National Crime Agency spokesperson told The Times that it "does not employ, endorse or accredit experts" on its adviser database. Its database covers a broad range of expertise in more than two dozen areas, including psychiatrists, accountants, and forensic artists. Now, law enforcement sources have confirmed that SGI has been suspended while a review is carried out to determine if it should return.

Nicola Bulley – latest: Diver Peter Faulding 'made a scapegoat', claims ex-police officer - Faulding was recently removed from National Crime Agency's list ...

Underwater search expert Peter Faulding has faced a barrage of criticism from the public after his assertions Nicola Bulley wasn't in the River Wyre after ...

I remain in close contact with the family. The trolls out there - and we need to get a grip of these people - the vile comments against the family, the police, myself, it's no-one's fault. He told GB News: "We spent four hours searching for Nicola in that stretch of the river. Following the tragic developments, Mr Faulding has gone on to defend his comments over Nicola not being in that stretch of river. "He & his teams ability is amongst the best in the world to find bodies on land & water. His team was allegedly dropped from an official list of experts recommended to assist in investigations on the Expert Advisers database.

Peter Faulding, from Specialist Group International (SGI), has been defended by a former police detective after drawing criticism over his work on the ...

My team and I at SGI did all we could to assist this family with only our best intentions. Mr Faulding said he refused to be the "fall guy" for the way the operation was handled after making previous comments saying he was “baffled” and stating he did not believe Ms Bulley was in the river. “He & his teams ability is amongst the best in the world to find bodies on land & water. Mr Faulding spent two and a half days scanning a three-mile stretch of the River Wyre between St Michael's and Cartford Bridge after offering to help search for the missing mum-of-two. Peter Faulding, from Specialist Group International (SGI), has been described as “one of the world’s best” after being criticised along with Lancashire Constabulary over Ms Bulley’s disappearance in Lancashire. [missing mum](https://www.dailystar.co.uk/latest/missing-person) Nicola Bulley, 45, has been defended by a former [police officer](https://www.dailystar.co.uk/latest/police) after being made a “scapegoat”.

Using specialist sonar equipment, Peter Faulding and his team have been scouring the River Wyre.

That was the land search teams.” “All I can say is when we searched she was not on the bottom of that river,” he said. In the section of the river they searched over three days, neither his team nor police divers discovered any indication of Bulley. After failing to find her, Faulding said he was "baffled." “That’s just my gut instinct at this point,” he told TalkTV ahead of SGI beginning its second day of searching on 7 February, “ [I personally don’t think she’s in the river](https://www.nationalworld.com/news/people/nicola-bulley-search-expert-phone-decoy-third-party-4017145).” Speaking to reporters shortly after arriving in St Michael’s on Wyre on 6 February, Faulding said he was confident his team would find Bulley if she had fallen into the river. “If a person is lying on their side, it can look like something else,” explained Faulding at the time. Specialist divers were on hand, but Faulding originally suggested they would only enter the water if a potential “target” was identified. After the first day of searching, Faulding said his team had scoured “three or four miles” of river until it got dark. [Bulley’s body was eventually found in the river](https://www.nationalworld.com/news/people/nicola-bulley-found-missing-mums-family-statement-from-police-press-conference-in-full-4034675) more than three weeks after she first went missing, about a mile away from where she was last seen. Michael’s on Wyre on 6 February, after a friend of Bulley said she had asked the team to Law enforcement sources confirmed to The Times that Peter Faulding's Specialist Group International (SGI) has been suspended while a review is conducted.

Peter Faulding has found himself at the centre of controversy but others have leapt to his and his company Specialist Group InternationaI's defence.

[ Facebook page](https://www.facebook.com/sgirescue/posts/pfbid05JSAhudVCzxJbk6JHEVQKgjJNbSCEVmLMXXy142FzhXxpany2Zy5TGm9YRJtrHuPl) saying it included “confidential matters” between SGI and the NCA. When asked for a statement the NCA did not deny this was the case. “The NCA does not employ, endorse or accredit experts on our adviser database. The body was in reeds, not the river. We spent most of the time above the We spent four hours searching that part of the river [where the body was found] and I can categorically say she was not on the riverbed. The Despite searching the part of the river where she was eventually found, Mr Faulding told He and his team's ability is amongst the best in the A Surrey diving specialist who helped in the search for Nicola Bulley has been made a “scapegoat” following the discovery of the mum's body, according to an ex-cop. But many have leapt to his defence and offered words of support after the dive specialist received a barrage of criticism, including some on social media sending him fake fundraising pages calling him "Peter Fraudling". [company](https://www.getsurrey.co.uk/news/surrey-news/gallery/surrey-diving-company-specialist-group-26185599)