10 things at Nicola Bulley inquest from 'screams' to how mum ended up in water
After months of cruel speculation, an inquest into the death of mum-of-two Nicola Bulley worked to establish the circumstances behind her last moments.
The mortgage adviser vanished after dropping her daughters, aged six and nine, at school, then taking her dog for a walk in Lancashire on January 27. Her phone, still connected to a work Teams call, was found on a bench overlooking the water. Her body was found in the River Wyre around a mile from the bench, on February 19.
Giving evidence at County Hall in Preston in June, Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour said it was likely that the 45-year-old drowned after entering the River Wyre. Ms Bulley's partner, Paul Ansell, sister Louise Cunningham and parents, Ernest and Dot Bulley, were seen sitting in the public gallery as the pathologist's evidence was read out.
An inquest is being held into Ms Bulley's death (PA)An earlier statement released on behalf of the family - who were represented by solicitor Terry Wilcox, of Hudgell Solicitors, and Sophie Cartwright KC - said they were "confident" that the inquest would "establish the true facts".
A spokesperson said: "Her family are hopeful, and confident, that the inquest process will establish the true facts, a clear timeline of what happened, and how Nicola died.
"Her family will not be making any comment until all evidence has been heard, and until the Coroner has delivered his conclusion."
Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog
Here is everything we have learned from the hearing...
Nicola Bulley died from drowning - pathologist
The bench where Ms Bulley's phone was found (James Maloney/Lancs Live)Home Office pathologist Alison Armour, who carried out the post-mortem examination on Ms Bulley, said the evidence of water in her lungs and stomach led her to conclude the cause of death was drowning. The coroner asked Ms Armour to sum up her findings and conclusion.
She said: "I conclude the cause of death as drowning. The lungs themselves showed classical features we see in drownings. In my opinion Nicola Bulley was alive when she entered the water."
Ms Armour said the presence of water in the lungs showed swallowing the liquid was an "active process" and therefore suggests Ms Bulley was alive at the time she went into the river. There were no brain bleeds or natural diseases and only normal therapeutic levels of medication in Ms Bulley's body, she added.
A low level of alcohol was consistent with the natural process of decomposition, the inquest heard. Professor Michael Tipton, a world expert in drowning, said he agreed with the pathologist's findings.
Mum-of-two 'fell in river before floating downstream'
Specialist search officers drive a boat along the River Wyre (PA)A police underwater search specialist said he believes Ms Bulley fell into the River Wyre before floating downstream. A video of PC Matthew Thackray in St Michael's on Wyre in Lancashire, where Ms Bulley is believed to have fallen in, was shown to the court.
In it he said: "There is a large vertical slope from the bench and into the water. On the day there was a steady flown downstream."
He went on: "The river was 4C, so almost freezing, and if she fell in the muscles would probably seize making it difficult to swim properly." He estimated she would have floated at a "metre a second" downstream.
No signs of assault or third party involvement
Police officers walk past flowers and yellow ribbons tied to a bridge over the River Wyre (PA)There was some bruising to Ms Bulley's body but these did not contribute to her death, the inquest was told. Dr Adeley asked the pathologist: "Is there any evidence of third-party involvement playing any part in her death?"
Ms Armour replied: "No, there was not." She also denied that Ms Bulley had been assaulted or harmed in any way.
Devastated parents promise to never stop looking for mum-of-two who vanished
Nicola 'could have started drowning within seconds of entering river'
An aerial view of the River Wyre in Lancashire (SWNS)Prof Tipton said there would have been a "fairly rapid incapacitation" after Ms Bulley went into the River Wyre. It may have been just seconds before she began to lose consciousness, the hearing was told.
The expert said Ms Armour's finding of water in the stomach and lungs is consistent with a "gasp response" under water, with liquid entering the body's organs, which he said is seen in two-thirds of drowning victims.
Prof Tipton told the inquest: "In my opinion, given the nature of the likely entry into the water, I would suspect Nikki had a gasp response under the water, initiating the drowning process.
"On the balance of probability there was a fairly rapid incapacitation due to the cold shock." It could have been an estimated "20 to 30 seconds" before Ms Bulley lost consciousness, the inquest was told. Two breaths of water would have been a "lethal dose" for someone of Ms Bulley's size, Prof Tipton said.
River at high tide when Nicola went missing
Ms Bulley was walking her dog along the River Wyre when she disappeared (Lancashire Police / SWNS)The river was at high tide when Ms Bulley went missing, a police diver has said. Mr Thackray showed a video to the court of himself - taken in April - floating over the weir with ease while saying the river level on that day in April was lower than at the time Ms Bulley vanished.
He said: "This part of the river is tidal, when we were here it was flowing downstream. On the day by the time we arrived, it was low tide. That means it was high tide earlier in the day and potentially pushing things back up." His team arrived at around 4pm on January 27.
4C temperatures may have led to cold water shock
Lancashire Police officers seen during the search for Ms Bulley (PA)Mr Thackeray said that, on the day Ms Bulley disappeared, the temperature of the water was around 4C. In the clip, he was heard saying: "That would feel very very cold, almost freezing if you fell in.
"The cold water shock would have probably taken effect and cause you to gasp for breath, cause your muscles to seize up so you can’t swim properly."
Prof Tipton also estimated the temperature to have been "around three to 5C (in the river)", which could trigger a "particularly powerful cold-shock response."
Cold water expert Dr Patrick Morgan added: "(After falling in) the heart rate goes excessively high, the blood pressure surges excessively high.
"The heart pumps no blood and the brain switches off. The potential conscious time here quoted are optimistic... it is potentially shorter.
"On the occasion that the individual has taken that initial gasp on the surface of the water and then gone below, the duration would be 10 seconds that you could hold your breath and very likely one or two seconds at best."
‘Nothing of concern’ on morning of mum’s disappearance
A missing person notice attached to a gate in St Michael's on Wyre (PA)Ms Bulley was immediately deemed a "high risk" missing person when she disappeared, sparking a huge police search operation. But a mother who bumped into Ms Bulley on the morning of her disappearance said there was "nothing of concern".
Kay Kiernan, a receptionist, told the inquest she spoke to Ms Bulley about her dog Willow while dropping off her children at school at just after 8.30am. She said: "She was not happy, but who is on a Friday-morning school run? She wasn't sad, just how I normally knew her."
Ms Kiernan went on: "There was nothing of concern."
Partner said 'she's struggling' after hearing her phone and dog were found
Ms Bulley's partner, Paul Ansell (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)Ms Bulley's partner said "she's struggling" after finding out her phone and dog were discovered by a bench.
Susan Jones, a retired careworker, told the court that at around 10am on January 27 she received a call from Penny Fletcher, who had discovered Willow and the phone.
She then bumped into Anne-Marie, Ms Fletcher's daughter-in-law, who recognised a photograph of Ms Bulley and her family on the phone lock screen. She then rang the local school, before speaking to Ms Bulley's partner, Paul Ansell.
Ms Jones told the inquest: "Anne-Marie spoke on the phone and said that he (Mr Ansell) said 'she's struggling'."
Witnesses heard 'inhale scream'
Police searching the River Wyre in Lancashire (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)Two women told the inquest of hearing a scream near the riverside on the morning Ms Bulley vanished.
Nurse Helen O'Neill said she was with her dogs in the garden of her house on Allotment Lane, not far from a path that leads to the bench overlooking the River Wyre where Ms Bulley disappeared.
She told the inquest: "I heard a scream, it's not an alarming noise, it was just over in a couple of seconds. I'm quite used to hearing the children in the school out back, but it was not that noise.
"I vividly remember thinking it's unusual at this time. In my head, I had two females, walking along by the river and one jumped out on the other. I didn't think anything of it until later on. There were no other sounds for me to be concerned about."
A second witness, Veronica Claesen, a housewife and club secretary for the village tennis club, said: "I was just about to get into the car and I heard a scream. A very short scream and my immediate thought was, 'Somebody is having a bit of fun at the back of the graveyard'."
Ms Claesen said it was an "inhale scream" like a sharp intake of breath.
Nicola 'very possibly' fell in water at 9.22am
The location on the River Wyre where police recovered Ms Bulley's body (PA)DC Keith Greenhalgh said he believes Ms Bulley fell into the water between 9.18am and 9.30am.
He told the inquest analysis of her iPhone and Fitbit watch data suggests she "very possibly" entered the water at 9.22am on January 27. DC Greenhalgh said the mum's Fitbit watch stopped recording steps beyond 9.30am on the say she disappeared.
He added that Ms Bulley's iPhone was "intact" and "there was no sign" it had been in the water. Speaking about her Fitbit watch, he went on: "My initial thoughts were that the device lost power on February 4 2023." He said there were no further steps recorded beyond 9.30am on January 27.
The watch and a set of Mercedes car keys were recovered along with her body on February 19, Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith told the inquest.
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