Nicola Bulley's heartbroken partner has theory about how she ended up in river

21 November 2023 , 10:09

777     0

Paul Ansell, pictured with partner Nicola Bulley spoke at the inquest into her death

Nicola Bulley's partner revealed how he believes the mum-of-two - who drowned in the River Wyre - ended up in the water.

Ms Bulley had dropped off her two children, aged six and nine, at school on January 27 this year and was walking the family dog Willow when she went missing. She was found dead in the river in St Michael's, Lancashire on February 19, around a mile from where her mobile phone and the springer spaniel's harness were discovered.

Speaking at the second day of her inquest, partner Paul Ansell said he thought she went to put on Willow's harness before falling into the water. Her mobile phone was still connected to a work Teams call when it was found on a bench overlooking the water.

Mr Ansell said: “She was still listening to that meeting, so I think she must have maybe put the phone on the bench and gone to put the harness back on Willow.” He also explained why the harness was removed from Willow.

Paul pictured after Ms Bulley went missing (Julian Hamilton/Daily Mirror)

"We would always take the harness off before going through the gate. Because she’s a springer she’s very erratic and into the bushes so anything that is on her that could get caught we used to take it off."

Mum appeared 'completely normal' moments before vanishing while walking dog

On the day she vanished he sent her a text message saying: “Have you got lost?” She had a meeting planned for 11am that day, then she had "quite a lot of paperwork to get ready" for another meeting in the afternoon, he explained.

So when it passed 10.30am he "started to feel a bit concerned". Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire, asked Mr Ansell if Ms Bulley had any suicidal thoughts. He replied: “There were a couple of throwaway comments during the blip period but nothing that gave me any concern.”

Nicola with her dog Willow (PA)

Mr Ansell said she had been “looking forward to the future” before her disappearance. "The blip over the Christmas period happened but in January she was back to herself, looking forward to the future and everything was on the up.”

He went on: “She had a good day the day before (she went missing), came home full of beans, excited with work, with the meetings she had and plans for the year." He described Ms Bulley as an "incredible mum.”

In a witness statement he said: “Nikki was a quiet person who enjoyed the simple side of life. She was a very private person and kept herself to herself.” Mr Ansell broke down in tears at one point during the inquest and had to step out for five minutes.

The inquest heard that a post mortem found Ms Bulley's cause of death to be drowning and there were no signs of assault or third party involvement.

Frances Kindon