Bulley Inquest, Inquest!
There is so much about the Nicola Bulley investigation and inquest that is weird, that it is difficult to know where to start. From the first it was clear the police had a preconceived idea - they called it a preferred 'hypothesis' which always struck me as somewhat pretentious - from which they were not prepared to budge, despite the ever increasing evidence it did not fit the facts.
It was apparent from the moment no crime scene was made of the area in which Nicola was alleged to have drowned and confirmed when after twenty-three days in which they could have reconsidered, they repeated the failure at the recovery site, nearly a mile downstream. This latter dereliction of duty is particularly unforgivable, and cannot be explained away by mere incompetence. It was confirmation of pig-headed intransigence. No one and nothing was going to be allowed to change their preferred narrative.
We all know how how closely Coroners work with the police. Although they have a small staff, they are not in a position to carry out a full investigation themselves and so rely on others - in fact a whole range of experts. However they are in a position to choose who to call to the inquest and to large extent evaluate the evidence before them. The Coroner in this case, Dr. James Adeley had over four months to do so, yet unlike the majority of the public, found nothing suspicious about the circumstances or any reason to question the police theory of how, where and when Nicola drowned.
Rather than an objective and critical 'stress-test' of the evidence and 'hypothesis', it became an exercise in 'rubber-stamping' it. It was clear to see by and large, only witnesses corroborating the police line were called, that witnesses who might give opposing opinion were excluded, and any evidence that might give rise to concerns - as with the phone, FitBit, unidentified suspicious men and screams, disregarded.
This all amounts to a lamentable state of affairs. Neither the Lancashire police nor Coroner's Court appear fit for purpose. For some reason, Nicola's family thought it right, for whatever reason, to accept the police and Coroner's version of events and verdict, of accidental death from drowning at the bench area, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. We can only wonder why?
Many may think that with the conclusion of the Inquest proceedings, the matter should be allowed to drop - "Let sleeping dogs lie", so to speak - but important matters of public policy are raised by this case. If the systems in place failed Nicola, they fail everybody. How many suspicious deaths have gone unrecorded, how many violent offenders gone unapprehended, because investigators chose to believe the event was 'accidental' or self inflicted?
In the following text - and previous articles - I have attempted however inadequately, to raise questions and lines of enquiry, that the official bodies and players have patently failed to do. Below, besides the introductory observations, I attempt to concentrate on the critical involvement and opinion of the Home Office Pathologist.
Location and Security Precautions
Selective Information in Public Domain
There is a great deal of information that the Coroner is privy to that remains veiled to the public. I am reliant on newspaper reporting, that may be incomplete or intentionally slanted. So on two levels forming an opinion is hamstrung and this without the bias imposed by the choice of witnesses or by following certain assumptions and not others. Nevertheless we may observe how the proceedings were choriographed to produce the desired verdict, at the expense of any other.
Witnesses
So examining the the Inquest in greater detail, it is interesting to note who was called to give evidence and as importantly, who wasn't. Dr Adeley made great play of the fact that the purpose of the Inquest was not to inquire into or judge the police investigation but it surely was to subject it to examination, insofar as it made assumptions over where, when and how Nicola came to die. This did not happen.
Only one explanation was offered up and was accepted without demure, despite there being no firm evidence to back it. There was no attempt on the part of the Coroner to seriously question it, follow up clues that pointed the other way or offer up any possible alternative explanations. Nor should we forget all the witnesses were chosen (or not) by the Coroner, although the criteria for such is opaque.
The precise details of the routes and timings of those claiming to have seen Nicola on the day she disappeared, were never fully described. Reference was made to CCTV video records but this too was unspecific despite being critical to the case. Specifically what cameras were working? What areas were covered and what not? Who was recorded by them at the critical time? If Nicola did not go into the river, as I think was proved, she must have departed by some other route and (if the CCTV can be trusted) by a route not covered by them.
Surprisingly the only video specifically referred to by the Coroner was that of Mr Ansell setting off from home to look for his partner at around 11 am on the 27th January. Was this to make clear his description of events was reliable and to prove he was not at the scene when and where she went missing?
So in order of appearance they were:
1st Day
11.37 - Dr Alison Armour. Home Office Pathologist,
12.04 - PC Matthew Thackery (River film shown) His explanation directly contradicted that of Wilkins above in that it was based on the premise that the body did not sink but floated at approximately walking pace over the weir in about a quarter of an hour, ignoring all the evidence to the contrary!
12.47 - Mike Tipton, professor of human physiology at the University of Portsmouth,
12.50 - Dr Paddy Morgan, HM Coastguard medical director.
Claire Cheshire, Sales executive
"Lucy" a friend of Nicola.
15.27 - Penny Fletcher, nearby caravan site owner.
15.36 - Susan Jones, Retired care worker gets call from Penny Fletcher at 10 am. Meets Anne Marie (Penny Fletcher's daughter in law) who recognises image of NB on phone and recognises her. She then rang school. Anne Marie ring PA about 10 minutes before he arrives. (PA never revealed this call)
Richard Fife (Written evidence read to the court) (Saw 'suspicious-looking man in black') This was 'new' evidence and had to be added to previous 'two suspicious fishermen in black' reported to police by a different individual. "A sighting of a "man dressed in black" was reported to Lancashire Constabulary after the disappearance of Nicola Bulley. An inquest into the mum-of-two's death heard evidence from dog walker Richard Fife who was among the last people to see the Nicola alive. Mr Fife was unable to attend the inquest at County Hall in Preston but his statement was read out on his behalf. His statement explained he was walking his dog on the fields close to where the mortgage advisor was last seen as she walked her dogs following the school run. He knew her well enough to say hello to her as they often see each other while out walking, Mr Fife explained.
2nd Day
Dr Rebecca Gray, Nicola's GP
Teresa Lewis Leevy, Home Treatment Team and the Synergy vehicle, a mental health emergency response vehicle.
Dot Bulley, Mother
Ernest Bulley, Father
Louise Cunningham, Sister.
Paul Ansell, Parner.
Sophie Cartwright KC, family barrister.
- Any senior police officer above the rank of constable! Not quite accurate. I have now learned that 16.41 the only evidence Supt. Rebecka Smith gave was that FitBit and car keys had been recovered from the body!
- Peter Faulding, The independent under water expert
- Jason Dean Rothwell. The person said to have discovered Nicola's body and reported it to the police,
- Emma White, close friend of Nicola and Paul, who took a leading PR role (allegedly 17 TV appearances!), organised demonstrations and started a 'Go Fund Me' appeal before Nicola's body was found.
- None of the personnel who actually located and retrieved the body.
- Anyone from the St Michael's School.
- The person who reported two suspicious looking 'fishermen' on two relevant days
- The manager of 'The Grapes' public house. (CCTV)
- The owner of the local garage (CCTV)
- Anyone representing the FitBit manufacturers.
For better version see below.
Dr Armour was the first person to give evidence and she explained that she carried out a post mortem on February 21, two days after Nicola's body was found. She said the internal examination found “classic signs” of asphyxia - a condition arising when the body is deprived of oxygen.
Neither bruises found on her arms and legs nor any underlying disease had contributed to her death, she said.
Dr Armour said there was no evidence of 'trauma' to Ms Bulley's neck.
By the time she was found, Dr Armour explained, the process of rigor mortis was completed and "flecks and fragments of dirt" were found inside Nicola's throat. There was also water found in and around her lungs and all of these are "typical features we see in cases of drowning". Dr Armour concluded Nikki was alive when she entered the water and gave a cause of death of drowning.
Toxicology tests found therapeutic levels of beta blocker propranolol and painkiller paracetamol. Although there was some ethanol (alcohol) the levels were consistent with post mortem microbial activity - bacteria within the body produce ethanol after death.
Asked by Dr Adeley if there was any sign Nicola had been assaulted or harmed prior to her death, she replied: “No there was not." Dr Armour said: “I have concluded the cause of death was drowning because of the following factors: the watery fluid within the stomach, the lungs showed typical or classical features we have seen in cases of drowning.”
She added: “The presence of the watery fluid along with the lung changes, in my opinion confirms that Nicola Bulley was alive when she entered the water.”
Dr Armour replied: “That’s my opinion.”
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. Therapeutic levels of beta blocker propranolol and painkiller paracetamol were also discovered. Dr Armour says that in her examination Nicola’s face, particualrly her forehead, and hair were covered in mud.
She had a wound to the bridge of her nose and eye but evidence suggests that came post mortem. She said there was no bleeding in the brain or natural diseases, only normal therapeutic levels of medication in her body and the low level of alcohol was consistent with this being the result of the natural process of decomposition of her body.
This afternoon Ms Claesen housewife and club secretary for the village tennis club said she had heard 'a very short scream', adding: ‘My immediate thought was someone having a bit of fun at the back of the graveyard'. "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'."
She described it as sounding like ‘an element of surprise’, clarifying that it was ‘an inhale scream and not an exhale scream’ and giving a gasp in demonstration. Ms Claesen said it was an "inhale scream" like a sharp intake of breath.
Ms O’Neill, who had been having breakfast when she heard it, had mistakenly put it down to girls playing. Nurse Helen O'Neill said she was with her dogs in the garden of her house on Allotment Lane. 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."
She said: ‘It wasn’t an alarming noise. It was over in a couple of seconds.’
Ms O'Neil told the hearing she was used to hearing the sound of young children screaming from the direction of the primary school, but this sounded like it was coming from the riverside path.
Professor Michael Tipton, a world-leading expert on the effects of falling into cold water, gave evidence about how a typical response to plunging into a river where the temperature was 10C or below was to 'gasp' and inhale one or two litres of water.
Commenting on Ms Bulley's build and the heavy outdoor clothing she was wearing on the day she went missing, he said: 'It would only take one or two breaths to cross the lethal dose for drowning.' Someone in that situation would have around 25 seconds before they lost consciousness, he said, experiencing 'very rapid incapacitation'.
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 where she fell.
Penny Fletcher, who runs a nearby campsite, St Michael's-on-Wyre told the inquest: 'I saw a springer spaniel loose, it was near the bench and going right towards the river where it drops down very steeply.
'I wouldn't say it was acting chaotic at all, it was a bit giddy, yes.'
Ms Fletcher found the phone, as well as a dog harness, and tied Willow to the bench. She later found out it was Ms Bulley's dog and heard that she had gone missing. She called her daughter-in-law who recognised the description of the dog as Ms Bulley's and exclaimed: 'Oh no, it's Nikki's dog and Nikki has gone missing'.
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.'
Kay Kiernan, a receptionist, said her 'mannerisms' were 'the same' as normal.
She said they spoke for two-three minutes during which Ms Bulley commented about how she couldn't believe that at the age of seven her dog Willow was classed as 'old'.
Lucy Musella, a waitress, said she had been messaging Ms Bulley about her daughter going on a play date with her on January 28, the next day.
She said at 8.13am on the day of her disappearance she messaged Ms Bulley to say that 'my daughter would love to come and play'.
At 8.59am, Ms Bulley messaged back with a time for the playdate and a smiley face emoji.
Claire Chesham, also went to walk her dog along the footpath following school drop-off and saw Ms Bulley exercising Willow between the two riverside fields.
She described it as an 'absolutely idyllic' scene and recalled thinking she wished her dog was as obedient as Willow.
Asked if Ms Bulley had a ball with her, she said she hadn't seen one.
Heating engineer Richard Fife couldn't attend. Statement read to court. said the 'stocky', round-faced man appeared to be waiting for a lift beside the main road through the village.
A dog walker who saw Ms Bulley as she was walking Willow on the morning of her disappearance spotted a man dressed all in black at the end of a nearby lane.
But he thought it was 'odd' that he was still there when he returned from exercising his Labrador, he said in a statement read to the hearing.
By the time he drove that way in his van, the man had gone.
After Ms Bulley was reported missing he contacted police about his sighting of the man, who he hadn't seen before.
According to Mr Fife's statement, he saw Nicola from a distance between 9.10am and 9.20am as she was looking at her phone. Mr Fife went on to explain that he saw a male he referred to as a “man in black” as he walked towards where he saw Nicola and assumed “he was waiting for a lift”. Mr Fife said he then saw him again on his way back and that he was dressed “all in black and possibly a beanie hat” and was about 6’ 1” tall.
Mr Fife thought it was strange he was still there, according to his statement. He then got in his car and drove off and when he drove past where the man in black had been he was gone. After hearing Nicola, 45, had gone missing Mr Fife reported his sighting of the man in black to police.
Police diver Matthew Thackray said specialist divers searching the water for Ms Bulley had to be helped out of the river by colleagues.
Cold water expert Dr Patrick Morgan said: '(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.'
Dr Lorna Dennison Wilkins told the inquest in Preston: 'Nikki might have had some buoyancy in her clothing which would have dispelled. Ms Bulley's body may have sunk under the surface of the river after she fell in, an underwater search expert has said.
'Once that happened, she would have lost that buoyancy and her body would have sunk under the surface, was my assessment.'
Second day
GP Dr Rebecca Gray has been asked to step up to give evidence first - she works at Great Eccleston Health Centre and was Nicola's GP. She explained that Nicola had previously spoke about anxiety and been prescribed anti-depressants and beta-blockers.
In January 2022 Nikki presented with fatigue and said she felt more anxious. She said she had started a new job and was finding it particularly stressful. The GP ordered some blood tests which were all normal. Dr Gray said there is no mention in the records of Nikki reporting any suicidal feelings or self-harm.
In February 2022, Nicola spoke struggling with sleep as a result of work stresses. of Dr Gray said: “She described how her brain felt like it was overloaded” and she had tried taking Nytol, herbal tea and a sleep spray.
On January 11, 2023, Nikki went to the walk-in centre at Fleetwood and said she had fallen and banged her head the previous night and was feeling drowsy and had been sick. She was sent to A&E at Blackpool Victoria Infirmary where a head CT scan found no internal injury.
Teresa Lewis Leevy is next to speak. She is a mental health clinician who was involved with the Home Treatment Team and the Synergy vehicle which is the mental health emergency response vehicle.
Ms Leevy explained that on January 10, 2023, just two weeks before Nicola went missing, her sister Louise Cunningham called the mental health team and “asked for some assistance with her sister”. The family was concerned with her increased alcohol use and the impression she “didn’t want to be here”. The team arrived at Nicola’s home at 7.30pm with police and a paramedic also there.
According to Ms Leevy, Nicola was “appropriately dressed” and “appeared to be intoxicated”. Nicola told her she had lost weight as a result of her increased alcohol use. The conversation with Ms Leevy was “quite brief” and Nikki then said she was tired and wanted to go to bed.
Ms Leevy said that although Nicola was intoxicated she wasn’t slurring her words but she was repetitive in saying “she wasn’t sure how this had happened but wasn’t able to quantify that with an explanation”. Nicola was advised to go and see the GP the following day but she said she couldn’t as she was sorting her mortgage out. However, when Ms Leevy spoke to Nicola’s partner Paul he said there “wasn’t an issue with the mortgage and it wasn’t something that was being done the following day”.
When asked if Nicola appeared depressed, Ms Leevy said: “No, no, not that I could ascertain at the time.”Paul Ansell (Partner)
Louise Cunningham (Sister) Nicola's sister Louise Cunningham who breaks down in tears after being asked what type of person she was.
After composing herself, she said Nicola was “very much a planner” and that she was “just amazing”. “Every Christmas mum and dad would buy her a Springer Spaniel calender and every January Nikki would transfer everything onto the new one with a colour-coded system."
She continued “Before having the girls she was a mortgage advisor… after the kids she re-sat her exams. She was just getting back into a routine of work again and she was absolutely brilliant.”
According to Louise, Nicola had a “special bond with Willow”. She said: “He was like her third child. She would always find time in her day to take Willow for a walk.”
Asked about Nicola's mental health, Louise said: "Nikki did have a bit of a blip over the Christmas period [with her HRT] however come January she had started to get back to her normal self, she was back on the HRT and back to work and back to normal Nikki. Her drinking did increase."
However, she said her sister "never, ever confided" in her about suicidal thought or anything related. Asked by the coroner whether she leave the dog by the field if she ever did consider ending her life, Louise replied: "Absolutely not. There is no way Nikki would leave Willow unattended.”
Discussing January 10 when an ambulance was called, Louise said: “It was a bit of a wake-up call for her I think. She was fuming with me for calling the ambulance, she thought I had overreacted and maybe I did but she is my sister and I was concerned. She started to get back to normal after that.”
Louise last saw Nicola on Friday January 13, 2023, having stayed with her sister for a few days after the incident on January 10.
Louise told the coroner that the two sisters had childhood nicknames for each other. Nicola was Clacker and Louise was Tosh. On the morning Nicola disappeared, Louise text her sister on WhatsApp and they were talking about booking a spa day. Louise booked the trip that morning, text her at 8.52am and then signed off the text ‘Tosher’.
Louise began crying as she said: “Literally I was saying it was booked but she never picked up the message.” The sisters were due to go to Ribby Hall for a spa day on March 18 using a voucher Nicola’s daughters had bought her for Mother’s Day in 2022.
Sophie Cartwright KC, representing the family, said: “Would it be fair to say you were incredibly close sisters?” to which Louise said “yes”. The barrister continued: “Not just incredibly close but you come from a very loving family. You were brought up down south but mum and dad moved north to be near their girls. We talked about hobbies but is it fair to say Nikki’s hobby was family?” Louise responded: “Yes.”
Louise went on to explain she is wearing Nicola's dress today in the inquest. Their parents had given it to Nicola for Christmas but she didn’t like it so gave it to Louise.
According to Louise, Nicola worked for Love Homes in Garstand and had a "really successful work meeting" the day before she disappeared. She was "excited about her career", Louise added.
Paul Ansell - Nicola's partner. Asked to confirm that he was Nicola's partner, he replies "I am", making a distinction between past and present tenses.
He is very softly spoken and is sat with his arms crossed on the table in front of him. After the mental health “blip”, Nicola was “back to her usual self and everything was on the up”, he said.
She was getting back into her work, she was excited, it was going really well. She had worked so hard. She was happy about earning her own money and getting that independence again.
The night before she went missing she was “full of beans”, he added. Paul reveals he works from home as an engineer for a US company and had been working until 1am the night before Nicola disappeared.
The coroner asked about the morning she went missing: “It was just a normal morning?” and he replies “yes”. “She would always do two loops of that field before heading back to the bench and picking the car up from school.”
Attention has now turned to the issue of the harness which was removed from Willow and found by the bench where Nicola's phone was. This has been the subject of speculation and conspiracy theories.
Asked why it would be removed, Paul said: "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."
Asked why the harness was in the grass and the phone on bench, he replied: "When she got back to the bench she is still listening to a conference call. She must have put the phone on the bench and then gone to put the harness back on Willow.”
At 10.30am, roughly an hour after Nicola is believed to have entered the water Paul sent her a text asking “have you got lost?” At 10.50am their children’s school called him to say her phone and Willow had been found. The coroner also references Ring doorbell footage which shows Paul leaving the house at around this time.
Sophie Cartwright KC asks Paul to explain more about the “successful meeting” Nikki had with Love Homes in Garstang the day before she had gone missing. She had agreed to be their sole mortgage advisor, he explained. “She came home in amazing spirits.”
Nicola worked for herself as a mortgage advisor but had built up relationships with various companies such as Love Homes, Concept Living - a new-build construction company, and Exclusively Mortgages. Paul reveals Nicola had a meeting planned at 11am the day she disappeared. She then had “quite a lot of paperwork to get ready” for another meeting that afternoon. She would always come home from her morning walk at 10/10.15, Paul said. He added: “When it got to 10.30am I started to feel a bit concerned.”
The inquest has broken for a brief comfort break after Paul began to cry while giving evidence. He was comforted by the coroner's officer before a decision was made for a brief pause.
Moments earlier, Paul had said: "Nikki was an incredible mum, she was an amazing mum”. The family's barrister, reading from his statement, said that their daughters "were her absolute world". She continued: "She adored nothing more than a walk with Willow in the countryside or a family walk in the hills followed by a nice meal out."
He explained that Nicola had she had stopped drinking when she disappeared and was back taking her HRT medication.
Paul said in his statement: “She was grateful for every day, she was an amazing mum and partner and this gave her huge security. She focused on the important things and did the right thing by everyone. She was well-respected by all who knew her. Everybody loved her.”
Dot and Ernest Bulley - are going to speak during today's proceedings in relation to the evening before she went missing. They had not previously expected to do so but the family's solicitor said "they were at the house that night and would like to give evidence"
Now Nicola's parents Ernest and Dot are now speaking. They are sat side by side next to Louise, Nicola's sister.
Mrs Bulley cries as she recalls the last time she saw her daughter. The night before she went missing Mr and Mrs Bulley had been watching the girls at Nicola’s home while she was in a Zoom meeting.
“Before we went home we went to the front door and gave them all a kiss and a cuddle,” she said. Mr Bulley added “we gave her a hug, as we always do with our children and with our grandchildren.”
Mr Bulley describes giving Nikki a kiss and a hug. As he starts to cry Mrs Bulley adds sadly: “For the last time.”
Mr Bulley said as a little girl Nikki was “always dancing around in her tutu” and as a teenager “she wasn’t any trouble”.
Mr Bulley has to take several pauses as he speaks to compose himself. “She put so much into passing those exams. It wasn’t easy bringing up a family and looking to combine the two together but we knew that she could do it.”
Now Nicola's parents Ernest and Dot are now speaking. They are sat side by side next to Louise, Nicola's sister.
Mrs Bulley cries as she recalls the last time she saw her daughter. The night before she went missing Mr and Mrs Bulley had been watching the girls at Nicola’s home while she was in a Zoom meeting.
“Before we went home we went to the front door and gave them all a kiss and a cuddle,” she said. Mr Bulley added “we gave her a hug, as we always do with our children and with our grandchildren.”
Mr Bulley describes giving Nikki a kiss and a hug. As he starts to cry Mrs Bulley adds sadly: “For the last time.”
Mr Bulley said as a little girl Nikki was “always dancing around in her tutu” and as a teenager “she wasn’t any trouble”.
Mr Bulley has to take several pauses as he speaks to compose himself. “She put so much into passing those exams. It wasn’t easy bringing up a family and looking to combine the two together but we knew that she could do it.”
Ms Cartwright KC (family's barrister) tells the coroner the conclusion he should return is one of accidental death. She argues the phone evidence, post mortem, expert evidence and eye-witness accounts all point to Nicola’s death being an accident.
"“What occurred on the riverbank at probably some time shortly after 9.18am was a tragic accident for Nikki. It is clear from the evidence that at 9.18am Nikki increased the volume on [the Zoom call] and it appears that what happened after that must somehow be linked to the location of the dog harness found on the steep part of the slope.
“There has been much rumour, suspicion and speculation… the family are of the view that that has been allayed by the evidence. The family are comforted by the evidence that Nikki’s death would have been very soon after she entered the water.”
The barrister urges the coroner to find: “At approximately 9.30am Nicola Bulley, on the balance of probabilities, died in the river due to an accidental death.”
She also urges the coroner to consider that the screams heard are not connected to Ncola's death and says “they do not have relevance to how Nikki came by her death".
Coroner's summary - timeline
Dr Adeley is now summing up the evidence which has been heard over the last two days. This includes:
Nicola was last seen alive by fellow dog-walker Claire Chesholm at 9.10am
At 9.18am she adjusted the volume of her conference call
PC Keith Greenhalgh examined Nikki’s Fitbit device- it recorded steps in 15 minute segments. On January 27 she walked 4,548 steps between 8am and 9.30am. Between 9.15am and 9.30am she walked 273 steps. No further steps after 9.30am
At 9.22am the FitBit recorded a substantially increased heart rate
Penny Fletcher arrived at the bench at 9.33am. Nicola was nowhere to be seen but Willow was found and the dog’s harness was found between the bench and the river
Nicola was last seen alive at 9.10am, interacted with her phone at 9.18am and Mrs Fletcher found Willow at 9.33am. This provides a maximum window of time of 15 minutes when Nicola went into the river
Coroner's summary - location
Contuining to sum up the evidence, Dr Adeley said:
- The river bank had an “almost vertical drop”
- At the base a stone wall had been built to prevent further erosion and this provided no footholds or handholds. If you fell here you would certainly enter the water
- The opposite bank, 20 metres away, was also a difficult site to climb out
- On January 27 the Environment Agency said the flow over the weir was 0.49 metres. When police did a reconstruction the weir height was almost half this but even at that level it took a body over the weir
- The flow on the river on the day Nicola died made it “almost impossible” to get out
- Nicola would have been unable to reach the bottom of the river until she had travelled for “at least 40 metres” downstream
- Two world leading experts, Dr Paddy Morgan and Professor Mike Tipton, said Nicola would have been overwhelmed by cold water shock after falling into the water
- The water temperature was 3.6C would have elicited a powerful response in Nicola - not related to body size but the rapid cooling of the skin
- Nicola's clothing would not have slowed her response to cold water shock
Coroner's summary - impact on Nicola's body
Dr Adeley said:
- Adrenalin is released immediately which can cause a person’s heart to stop instantaneously
If this doesn’t occur there is an overwhelming urge to gasp. If Nicola’s head was underwater she could have inhaled two litres of water which would have been a lethal dose
There was a good chance Nicola's first breath was underwater. Even if was above the water, if she then became submerged, an increased heart rate and blood rate would have used oxygen at a rate where she would have lost consciousness within 48 seconds. However, this was highly optimistic and it would more likely have been 30 seconds with increasingly impaired consciousness
Such was the shock of immersion Nicola would have been unable to stand up or float
She would have died before reaching the first point in the river where she could have touched the bottom
Coroner's summary - wider circumstances
Dr Adeley is continuing to sum up the evidence:
Nikki had no alcohol in her bloodstream at the time of her death
The cause of death was drowning
The RNLI’s Float to Live campaign urges people to tilt their head back, relax, try to breathe normally and spread yourself out. Such education may save the lives of other people who are unlucky enough to enter cold water
On the possible involvement of third parties: all of the witnesses who were in the area did not note anyone suspicious in the area of the field where Nicola was walking
Det Supt Rebecca Smith said CCTV of three of the four entry points to the field shows nobody acting unusually. CCTV from the fourth point only showed one direction but this also showed nobody
Police contacted the owners of 700 cars which passed the road and examined dashcam footage. Nothing unusual was spotted
Dr Armour said there was no evidence Nicola was assaulted nor that a third-party was involved
Although two women heard a scream it was not of a nature which caused concern and was some distance from where Nicola was. At the time they were heard Nicola was probably already dead
Conclusion
Dr Adeley says that the medical cause of death was drowning. He said it likely that Nicola entered the water at 9.22am when her Fitbit recorded a significant spike in her heart rate. He is unable to determine exactly why Nicola entered the water.
Dr Adeley said: "On January 27 at around 9.22am Nicola Jane Bulley fell into the River Wyre and died almost immediately".
He is now addressing each of the possible short form conclusions. These are:
Suicide - there is an absence of any evidence, he says. Excluding a couple of comments over Christmas, treated as throwaway, there is no indication Nicola had any intention of taking her life. It is believed it would also be unusual for suicide as she would not have left Willow who was described as her third child. To leave her car keys in her pocket with her car in the school playground where her children would see it would be cruel so there is no evidence to support this conclusion.
Natural causes - There is no sign of natural causes.
Accidental death - The only remaining conclusion is accidental death and this is what is recorded by Dr Adeley
- Adrenalin is released immediately which can cause a person’s heart to stop instantaneously
Dr Armour was the first person to give evidence and she explained that she carried out a post mortem on February 21, two days after Nicola's body was found. She said the internal examination found “classic signs” of asphyxia - a condition arising when the body is deprived of oxygen.
Neither bruises found on her arms and legs nor any underlying disease had contributed to her death, she said.
Dr Armour said there was no evidence of 'trauma' to Ms Bulley's neck.
By the time she was found, Dr Armour explained, the process of rigor mortis was completed and "flecks and fragments of dirt" were found inside Nicola's throat. There was also water found in and around her lungs and all of these are "typical features we see in cases of drowning". Dr Armour concluded Nikki was alive when she entered the water and gave a cause of death of drowning.
Toxicology tests found therapeutic levels of beta blocker propranolol and painkiller paracetamol. Although there was some ethanol (alcohol) the levels were consistent with post mortem microbial activity - bacteria within the body produce ethanol after death.
Asked by Dr Adeley if there was any sign Nicola had been assaulted or harmed prior to her death, she replied: “No there was not." Dr Armour said: “I have concluded the cause of death was drowning because of the following factors: the watery fluid within the stomach, the lungs showed typical or classical features we have seen in cases of drowning.”
She added: “The presence of the watery fluid along with the lung changes, in my opinion confirms that Nicola Bulley was alive when she entered the water.”
29.7.2023: Why can't we be absolutely clear on just one point? Nicola was not, and could not, have been the river on the 27th January, 2023. Once this is factored into the case, it makes alternative explanations, however implausible, absolutely essential. It also flags up a deeply sinister aspect to both the police investigation 'hypothesis and the conduct and verdict of the Coroner. This case has much wider implications than just that of a missing person who died. As usual we can have no confidence in our government or the administrative processes it is responsible for.
22.8.2023. The scream evidence, that you rightly say was not made public until the inquest, came from two women from opposite directions, that place the source well past the bench on the footpath. From the tennis club it was said to be behind the church; from Allotment Lane it was from the tow path. This accords with the initial police statement that she was last seen on the footpath at 9.15. This suggests to me that she in fact got past the notorious bench on her way back to her car, met the couple (who incidentally were not called to the inquest either) and was then abducted further along, hence the scream, and probably swiftly removed in a vehicle via Allotment Lane. The time window for the screams is 9.35 - 9.55 am. Of course this is well past the time she was supposed to have drowned but it is also aligned with the time Penny Fletcher is said to have done her circuit and found the phone. So if two people further distant heard a scream, she certainly must have also. So why hasn't she referred or recalled it? Is it significant that both Nicola's partner and sister broke down at the Inquest and had to be excused, never to return. This despite a stoic, not to say callous, appearance in all previous interviews. This appears a tad contrived and convenient I would suggest.
27.8.2023: One of the imponderables in this case stuffed with inexplicables, is why neither Nicola's partner or relations used the Inquest to challenge the police version of events? The problems with it and the inquest verdict are so obvious, it beggars belief that they would not, if they had any interest in revealing the true explanation. We may come up with possible reasons why the police would promote and stick with a ludicrous 'hypothesis' but what could possibly explain why the parents would accept a felonious cover-up? Could it be that it reflects a stoical and practical approach to a fait accompli, to minimise distress to the children and maximise the financial consequences or is there some other reason? Given the obvious circumstances, we might expect guilty parties to welcome an 'accidental' verdict but not innocent ones. Usually families leave no stone un-turned to solve unexplained deaths of loved ones. In this case it is noticable by its absence. Why?
27.8.2023: So many answered question never posed on the autopsy findings. The blood, the bruises, the organic debris in the mouth and throat; whether it was fresh or brackish water in the lungs and stomach; the items of clothing still on the body or not; how there came to be mud and grass on her feet; the state of decomposition and whether it was consistent with 23 days in water; where items recovered were found, what they were and if any items were missing; an estimate of time of death from natural processes and whether the temperature of the body was consistent with the water temperature or significantly different. None of these questions were posed either by the Coroner or lefal representatives of the family other than superficial ones by the Coroner affirmative of the police hypothesis. Clearly the family and Coroner were content with the autopsy process or they would have asked for a second opinion.
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