Man arrested after 'filming police retrieving Nicola Bulley's body'

Self-declared ‘TikTok detective’ arrested after he ‘filmed police pulling Nicola Bulley’s body out of the river’ claims he’s committed no crime in YouTube rant

• Curtis Arnold was arrested on suspicion of malicious communications offences 
• In video he complains about arrest after police announced it without naming him

A self-declared ‘TikTok detective’ who was arrested after he allegedly filmed police while they pulled Nicola Bulley’s body out of the river has claimed he committed no crime in a YouTube rant.  

Curtis Arnold was arrested on suspicion of malicious communications offences and perverting the course of justice in connection with the investigation into the missing mother-of-two.

The 34-year-old barber, of Kidderminster, Worcestershire, posted a video on YouTube complaining about his arrest after Lancashire Constabulary announced it without naming him.

He said that he has been bailed until June and that his bail conditions include no longer sharing online content about the case or publicly discussing it and that he does not enter Lancashire.

Arnold captioned the latest video on his ‘Curtis Media’ channel: ‘My arrest over…Lancashire police prove their point and ban me from Lancashire and…from uploading or speaking about her case’.

Curtis Arnold (pictured), 34, was arrested on suspicion of malicious communications offences and perverting the course of justice in connection with the investigation

Arnold’s arrest relates to footage taken on February 19 from inside a police cordon close to the River Wyre in Lancashire and posted online. It was the day that 45-year-old mother-of-two Nicola Bulley’s (pictured) body was found by dog walkers in reeds and retrieved by officers

He begins by saying: ‘Even though I am talking about my case and my arrest over a video I have got to be very careful that I don’t talk about that case.’

Arnold’s arrest relates to footage taken on February 19 from inside a police cordon close to the River Wyre in Lancashire and posted online. It was the day that 45-year-old mother-of-two Nicola Bulley’s body was found by dog walkers in reeds and retrieved by officers.

A police spokesperson said: ‘The man was held on Wednesday morning with assistance from West Mercia Police and has since been released on bail with conditions. Our priority is, and has always been, to support Nicola’s family and the wider community in St Michael’s. We hope this arrest provides reassurance that we take concerns seriously and will act on them.’

Arnold alleges in his video that officers were heavy-handed when they arrested him at 1.30am at his grandparents’ house and then searched the property.

He complains: ‘I still have marks on my hands now from the handcuffs. That’s how tight they put them on. My nan is now a nervous wreck. She hasn’t been sleeping over it. There was no need to arrest like that. They could have just knocked the door. They could have even just phoned me and I would have gone in for a voluntary interview, no problem.’

He said that a pair of Lancashire Constabulary detectives interviewed him for two hours.

Arnold said: ‘Essentially guys, I didn’t post the video to cause harm or stress. I just posted it for my media channel as everybody knows.

‘I think everybody knows that there’s no crime been committed here and I think everybody is aware why the police have done this to me. They have basically made it so that I can’t go there and I can’t do videos on the case any more.

‘That is what the locals wanted and that is what they have got. They have made an offence fit.

‘My solicitor said it doesn’t fit but obviously they’ve made it fit and I’m on bail for three months and that is just the way it is.’

Lancashire Constabulary was widely criticised for disclosing Nicola’s struggles with alcohol and menopause two weeks into the search. The search lasted 23 days before her body was found by the dog walkers less than a mile from where she was last seen

The disappearance of mortgage advisor Nicola Bulley sparked a vast amount of speculation online.

Experts have claimed that TikTok algorithms that reward and encourage controversial content fuelled the waves of online interest.

Content creators descended in droves on the village where Nicola was last seen on January 27 in a bid to crack the case.

So many sleuths flooded into St Michael’s on Wyre to film videos that, at one point, police had to issue a 48-hour dispersal order to clear the village of outsiders.

During the investigation, Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith said that social media users had been ‘playing their own private detectives’.

The force asked people not to ‘take the law into their own hands’ and risk ‘thwarting’ their investigation.

Amateur detectives were warned against abusing witnesses or breaking into empty buildings as it was distracting detectives and risked prosecution.

Lancashire Constabulary was widely criticised for disclosing Nicola’s struggles with alcohol and menopause two weeks into the search.

The search lasted 23 days before her body was found by the dog walkers less than a mile from where she was last seen.

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