Curtis Arnold: Man who filmed Nicola Bulley being pulled from river tricked women into taking gym pics
INSKIP, LANCASHIRE: A man who filmed Nicola Bulley's body being pulled out from the water has been identified as a fraudster who tricked women into taking gym pictures. 34-year-old Curtis Arnold has been accused of duping police and filming the mom's body being recovered from the River Wyre in Lancashire. Bulley's body was found on February 19, 2023, days after she went missing while walking her dog.
Arnold posted the disturbing footage on various social media platforms, including TikTok and YouTube. While many condemned his act, the video received nearly a million views and earned him almost £1,000 in royalties ($1,195.09). "Yeah perhaps it was a step too far, but I can't take it back," Arnold told The Sun.
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Who is Curtis Arnold?
Body-builder Arnold has reportedly been identified as a conman with various criminal convictions, including burglary, fraud, drink-driving (driving under the influence), and perverting the course of justice. The TikTok ghoul runs a barber shop in Kidderminster. Despite his apparent eagerness for creating content, he has no journalistic credentials.
The fraudster, who has a rap sheet going back to his early 20s, often visited gyms in the London area posing as a fitness modeling agent looking for models to promote a firm's female leggings. He took several sexualized photos and videos of women which he used to promote his own fitness products on social media, without the women's permission. Arnold served time at Wormwood Scrubs prison in London after being convicted of fraud by false representation.
As per a source at the notorious prison, he was unpopular with the staff there. "He was a very narcissistic, manipulative individual and would regularly try to manipulate female staff, especially education staff," the source said. "He was slimy and would tell them they were beautiful or he preferred them over another officer. He would say very inappropriate things and would ask for their mobile numbers and ask to see them outside of the prison. But when he started asking female staff to smuggle in phones and drugs for him, it all went down on his report."
The source added that Arnold was sacked from his job as a reception orderly at the prison. "It was discovered he was part of a group smuggling items into prison so he was sacked," they claimed.
According to Arnold's Facebook profile, he is a Master Barber at Grade One Barbers. The profile says he studied at Worcester College of Technology and went to Elmfield Rudolf Steiner School.
Curtis Arnold's lengthy rap sheet
A six-month suspended prison sentence was handed to Arnold in March 2020 at Hereford Crown Court for perverting the course of justice connected with altering his car license plate. He was brought before the courts yet again in October 2020 for breach of a suspended sentence when he was arrested for drink-driving. He was almost twice the legal alcohol limit at the time.
Arnold later pleaded guilty the following month to receiving two registration plates stolen from a parked car in West Bromwich. The same month, he allegedly broke into a house garage in Kidderminster and stole some tools. It is unclear what his sentence was in this case, but he did admit burglary. However, Arnold, then 22, dodged jail for the breach when a judge showed leniency saying the youngster had just started to show signs of maturity as he worked hard to become a personal trainer.
The judge instead went on to impose eight days of specified activity for the breach, along with a 12-month community order for handling the stolen number plates. Arnold was given a £500 ($597.33) fine for drink-driving, He was also banned from the roads for three years.
Arnold lives in a three-bedroom detached house near the barber’s shop he runs. He said his criminal convictions "have nothing to do" with the Nicola Bulley case and are "old news". "I've had my punishment," he said, adding, "it wasn't young women" he was taking photos of in gyms.
Arnold also said reports claiming he tricked cops to access the scene where Bulley's body was being recovered were "misleading". "I got past there to find out what was going on, the video of the police going into the river was half an hour later on the other side of the river," he said. On being asked if he profited from the videos he posted, he said, "Not really, it cost me 80 quid fuel there and back and I'm not making much more than that on the videos. The views aren't millions, are they, they're only thousands."
Arnold also said he regrets posting the clip on social media. "Of course I do, the videos on there are very helpful to people, I have that feedback, but that particular video...yeah perhaps it was a step too far, but at the time the main media were rushing over there to film it and I just presumed that, yeah, great I can just get what they're getting because a lot of people want to watch," he said.
"But in hindsight perhaps I shouldn't have posted that video, I have removed it, but I can't take it back," he said, adding that he has faced backlash after he was exposed. "I've had my house damaged, my car damaged, my workplace damaged, I've been assaulted, I've had death threats, I've had all sorts of drama," he said.
Curtis Arnold continues to share posts on Nicola Bulley
The widespread outrage did not seem to stop Arnold from posting about the Nicola Bulley case. One of his recent videos includes one where he speculates about the woman's death while visiting where her body was found. The 25-minute video has been viewed over 60,000 times.
Arnold usually hides his identity online and is careful about not appearing on camera. Sometimes he used a photo of Bulley's partner, Paul Ansell, as his profile picture. Apart from the video that shows officers lifting what looks like a body bag at the water's edge, Arnold also posted a video of a pale-faced couple who were in shock after finding Bulley's body in the reeds, according to The Sun. He had also recorded a "possible burial site" in woodland near the place Bulley was last spotted before she disappeared. He headlined a series of videos with smears against her partner, Paul.
'He's a sick individual'
Social media users slammed Arnold, with one of them saying, "What price an absence of empathy, respect and kindness? That'd be £900." Another said, "Guy needs calling out on his own sh**!"
What price an absence of empathy, respect and kindness? That'd be £900. #digitalcitizenshiphttps://t.co/9W7CMgKVHI
— Simfin (@simfin) February 26, 2023
"He's a sick individual who needs to be locked up. This sort of person has physiological problems who could possible go on to commit a serious crime to satisfy his desire to be famous," one user commented on Facebook. Another said, "Disgusting ! What world are we living in that people think that this behaviour is fine, just to get likes ! Respect and dignity have dissappeared, poor family". "As soon as I saw him I knew I recognised him he's from Kidderminster nd he's always been hella creepy nd full on dodgy I wasn't 100% sure it was the same person 2 start with so I researched him and it most definitely is," one user said, while another wrote, "Always thought he was weird! Won’t be taking my boy for a haircut there again!!!!!!"
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