Nicola Bulley dive expert defends river search equipment that 'doesn't work on reeds'

The expert diver whose team searched the river for missing woman Nicola Bulley has said he was not tasked with checking above the water line and insisted he is not prepared to be the "fall guy" for mistakes made during the search.

Bulley was last seen at around 9.10am on 27 January, taking her dog Willow for a walk after dropping her two children at school. Her phone was later found on a bench at 9.33am, and police have been working on the theory that she went into the water.

On Sunday, it emerged a body had been found in reeds close to where the dog walker went missing.

Police confirmed on Monday afternoon that they had formally identified the body as being Bulley.

Faulding has already faced a backlash over the search, despite commenting that his equipment does not work on reeds either above or below the waterline.

In a post to his company Specialist Group International's Facebook page, Faulding said: "Sadly, the discovery was not found in the river but in the reeds at the side of the river which was not part of our remit as the side scab sonar does not penetrate reeds above or below the water.

"A riverbank and wade search would be the only way to search this area and we were not involved or tasked with that search. The difference between these two search areas has caused a lot of confusion and unfair criticism towards myself and my team at Specialist Group International."

Watch: Nicola Bulley dive expert - I've become the fall guy after body was found

Last week, police revealed that Bulley had experienced struggles with alcohol and menopause. Faulding subsequently claimed that such information would have changed the way his dive team looked for her.

On Monday, he told Good Morning Britain that he was not prepared to be the "fall guy" following the discovery of a body over the weekend.

"There was no evidence Nicola went into the river at the bench, because she would have fallen into two foot of water" he explained.

"I believed she walked off somewhere and went into the river in some other way. There's been much speculation around this... there's always a fall guy and obviously i'm the one who's taking the fall for this, but I hand on heart, went to visit the family to help the family, as we do many other families each year for drowning victims."

Faulding has long maintained he does not believe the missing mortgage broker went into the river near to where her phone was found, and added in a statement following the discovery of a body that he would have found her if she was in the river at the time of the search.

"My previous comments saying that if Nicola was in the river I would have found her, stand still," he said.

Two dog walkers are understood to have made the discovery by the River Wyre, near to Rawcliffe Road, at 11.35am on Sunday. Police divers attended the scene and recovered the body.

Bulley's family have released several statements since her disappearance, with her partner, Paul Ansell, commenting that he would never give up the search for his wife because "she would never give up on us".

He told Sky News following Sunday's discovery that he was in "agony".

"No words right now, just agony," he said. "We’re all together, we have to be strong."

Latest news on the Nicola Bulley investigation

What happened to Nicola Bulley? Three theories on her disappearance (Yahoo News UK, 5-min read)

'Agony' for family as they await identification of body (Sky News, 2-min read)

Body found by dog walkers just a mile from where mother went missing (The Independent, 3-min read)