Nicola Bulley was alive when she fell in the River Wyre, had not been drinking and died by drowning with no sign of foul play or an attack by a third party, her inquest heard today.
Dr Alison Armour, giving evidence at an inquest at County Hall in Preston, said that there was ‘no evidence’ the 45-year-old mother-of two was harmed before she vanished on January 27.
Ms Bulley’s partner Paul Ansell and her family attended the hearing this morning. Dr James Adeley, senior coroner for Lancashire, told them: ‘I’m sorry that you are attending this court under these circumstances.’ He was told to refer to Ms Bulley as Nikki during the hearing.
She died as a result of drowning and was alive when she fell into the water, a Home Office pathologist then said. Nikki had not been assaulted or harmed before she drowned, the inquest heard. A police underwater search specialist said he believes Ms Bulley fell into the River Wyre before floating downstream. The ‘shock’ of the cold water would cause her to ‘gasp’ and inhale water, PC Matthew Thackray said.
Dr Alison Armour, giving evidence at an inquest at County Hall in Preston, said watery fluid and fragments of dirt found inside Ms Bulley’s body were ‘typical features we see in cases of drowning’.
She added that Ms Bulley was alive when she entered the water and that there was ‘no evidence’ she was harmed. Nikki had not been drinking before her death, a Home Office pathologist then said. It came after Lancashire Police faced a furious backlash after revealing Nicola suffered from ‘significant issues with alcohol’ in the past.
Dr Adeley asked Dr Alison Armour, who was giving evidence at an inquest at County Hall in Preston: ‘At the time of her death she had no alcohol in her bloodstream?’ Dr Armour replied: ‘That’s my opinion.’
The coroner then asked if there was ‘any indication’ that Ms Bulley suffered ‘assault or harm’ on the day she vanished. ‘No there was not,’ Dr Armour replied. She confirmed there was no evidence of ‘third party involvement’ from her examination.
Mother-of-two Nicola Bulley, 45, vanished while walking her dog in Lancashire on January 27
Paul Ansell, Ms Bulley’s partner of 12 years, gave TV interviews appealing for help
A police diving team at the River Wyre near St Michael’s-on-Wyre in Lancashire on February 19
Nikki’s friends Heather Gibbons and Hannah Swale arrive for the inquest today. They helped lead the search
Home Office pathologist Alison Armour, who carried out the post mortem after Ms Bulley’s body was found on February 19, concluded the cause of her death was drowning.
She said she based this opinion on the presence of ‘watery fluid’ in her stomach and lungs as well as fragments of dirt found in her throat.
‘In my opinion I consider Nicola Bulley was alive when she entered the water as it is an active process to swallow water and inhale fluid into the lungs,’ she told the hearing.
Traces of alcohol found in her blood following toxicology reports were consistent with bacterial activity after her death, she said, while medication including paracetamol was within ‘therapeutic levels’.
Neither bruises found on her arms and legs nor any underlying disease had contributed to her death, she said.
Coroner Dr James Adeley asked if there was ‘any indication’ that Ms Bulley suffered ‘assault or harm’ on the day she vanished.
‘No there was not,’ Dr Armour replied.
She confirmed there was no evidence of ‘third party involvement’ from her examination.
Dr Armour said there was no evidence of ‘trauma’ to Ms Bulley’s neck.
Police diver Matthew Thackray said photographs shown to the hearing of the riverbank above which Ms Bulley was last seen showed there was a steep ‘cliff edge’ into the water.
He said specialist divers searching the water for Ms Bulley had to be helped out of the river by colleagues.
The coroner asked: ‘If you were in the water trying to get a foothold, would it be possible?’
‘Not at all,’ he answered.
He said water temperature on the day was 4C which would have felt ‘almost freezing’.
Commenting during the video, Pc Thackray said he was floating along at walking pace, accelerating to a ‘slow jogging pace’ towards a weir less than 100 downstream.
A key area of speculation during the search for Ms Bulley was whether it would have been possible for a casualty or a body to be pushed over the weir by the current.
Beneath the weir, the Wyre becomes tidal as it flows towards the treacherous sands of Morecambe Bay.
In the video, Pc Thackray could be seen floating easily over the weir, despite the lower water level compared to when Ms Bulley went missing.
He clarified the water temperature on Jan 27 as being 3.6C with the water flowing at around twice the speed as when he filmed the clip for the coroner.
The 45-year-old mortgage adviser’s body was found in the River Wyre in Lancashire on February 19 – around a mile from where she vanished on January 27.
Ms Bulley’s phone was found on a bench overlooking the water in the village of St Michael’s-on-Wyre, while still connected to a work Teams call.
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A PSCO walks towards an appeal poster for Ms Bulley in St Michael’s-on-Wyre in February
Assistant Chief Constable Peter Lawson (left) and Detective Superintendent Rebecca Smith (right) of Lancashire Police update the media in St Michael’s-on-Wyre on February 15
Large rocks in the river immediately beneath the bank where Ms Bulley was last seen had probably been placed there deliberately in the past to combat erosion, Pc Thackray said.
The hearing was shown video filmed by Pc Thackray in April as he floated downriver from the point Ms Bulley was last seen.
He said it was not possible to stand up in the river until around 40m downstream – and its level was around half a metre lower than on the day Ms Bulley went missing.
Speaking on the video about the water temperature, he said: ‘If you fell in accidentally, cold water shock would probably have taken effect and caused you to gasp and your muscles to seize so you can’t swim properly.’
Police divers were seen back in the river in April in an operation which Dr Adeley’s office later said was intended to assess the stability and topography of the bank.
Paul Ansell, her partner of 12 years, gave TV interviews appealing for help – saying their daughters wanted their mummy home.
As the days passed and speculation continued online, Lancashire Police revealed Ms Bulley had struggled with alcohol and perimenopause.
This prompted widespread criticism for disclosing her personal information, with Home Secretary Suella Braverman and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak questioned about the police approach and the force facing investigation.
On February 19, Lancashire Police revealed a body had been found in the river after it was called earlier that day to an area about a mile from where Ms Bulley vanished.
An independent review of Lancashire Police’s handling of the case is currently under way by the College of Policing, ordered by Lancashire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Andrew Snowden.
Friends of Ms Bulley hold missing person appeal posters in St Michael’s-on-Wyre in February
A search on the River Wyre in Lancashire after Ms Bulley went missing earlier this year
Part of the review will include inquiries made by the Information Commissioner’s Office over the force’s disclosure of Ms Bulley’s personal information.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct also looked at a welfare check on Ms Bulley carried out by police 17 days before she went missing.
Media watchdog Ofcom is also in contact with both ITV and Sky after criticism of the broadcasters by Ms Bulley’s family.
The inquest, expected to last two days, continues.
