Nicola Bulley: coroner rules Lancashire mum died by drowning after accidentally falling into cold water

A coroner has ruled Nicola Bulley drowned after falling into cold water - and deemed her death accidental.

Ms Bulley, 45, disappeared after dropping her daughters, aged six and nine, at school, then taking her usual dog walk along the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, on 27 January. Her body was found downstream nearly a month later.

Criticism of the behaviour of the police, the media, and members of the public rife was throughout the case, with public conspiracy theories, media intrusion, and police giving out person information all the subject of intense scrutiny.

The two-day inquest into her death, at the County Hall in Preston, wrapped up on Tuesday (27 June) - with senior coroner for Lancashire Dr James Adeley ruling her death was accidental, the result of drowning after falling into cold water.

Nicola Bulley’s family believed evidence that suggested her death was accidental, their lawyer told the inquest. Sophie Cartwright KC said: “What happened on the river bank shortly after 9.18am was a tragic accident.”

Ms Cartwright added: “There has been much rumour and suspicion and speculation around Nikki’s death but the family are very clearly of the view and submit to you that that rumour and speculation is allayed completely when looking at all the evidence.”

She added the family believe “Nikki’s death would have occurred very shortly after she entered the water”.

Ms Bulley's partner of 12 years Paul Ansell told the inquest she had been “looking forward to the future” before her disappearance. He said there had been a "blip" in her mental health over the Christmas period, "but in January she was back to herself, looking forward to the future and everything was on the up".

He continued: “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.” Dr Adeley asked him if Ms Bulley had any suicidal thoughts.

Mr Ansell replied: “There were a couple of throwaway comments during the blip period but nothing that gave me any concern.” On the day she disappeared, the inquest heard Mr Ansell had sent her a text message asking “Have you got lost?”

Mr Ansell later broke down in tears during his evidence, and had to leave the room, after saying Ms Bulley "was an incredible mum". “Nikki was a quiet person who enjoyed the simple side of life," he said in his witness statement. "She was a very private person and kept herself to herself.” He then started crying and was taken away.

On Monday, senior coroner for Lancashire Dr James Adeley addressed Ms Bulley's loved ones before the inquest got underway. He told members of her family, who were in court: “I’m sorry that you are attending this court under these circumstances.” Dr Adeley was asked to refer to Ms Bulley as Nikki during the hearing.

The inquest heard from a number of witnesses who either saw her, or were in the area around the time she disappeared. 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," she said.

A second witness, Veronica Claesen, said she was about to get into her car when she heard a "short scream". Ms Claesen said it was an “inhale scream” like a sharp intake of breath.

The inquest also heard from a police underwater search specialist, who said he believes Nicola 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.

“There is a large vertical slope from the bench and into the water," he said in the video. “The river was 4C [on the day] so almost freezing, and if she fell in the muscles would probably seize making it difficult to swim properly.”

Physiology expert Professor Michael Tipton told the coroner the cold temperature could have caused "a particularly powerful cold-shock response". He added: “For somebody of Nicola’s size, it would have taken one or two breaths in of water to be a lethal dose.

“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," he told her inquest. “On the balance of probability there was a fairly rapid incapacitation due to the cold shock.”

It was also heard it could have been an estimated “20 to 30 seconds” before she lost consciousness.

Cold water expert Dr Patrick Morgan also gave evidence as to what might have happened to Ms Bulley once she fell in, and told the coroner: “[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," he said. “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.”

Underwater search expert Dr Lorna Dennison Wilkins told the inquest Ms Bulley’s body may have sunk under the surface of the river after she fell in. “Nikki might have had some buoyancy in her clothing which would have dispelled... Once that happened, she would have lost that buoyancy and her body would have sunk under the surface, was my assessment.”

Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour, who also gave evidence at the inquest, was asked by the Coroner whether Ms Bulley had alcohol in her bloodstream at the time of death. Dr Armour replied: “That’s my opinion.”

After Bulley's January disappearance, her phone - still connected to a work Teams call - was found on a bench overlooking the water. The mortgage adviser - who lived in Inskip - was immediately deemed a “high risk” missing person, sparking a huge police search operation, with hundreds of local search volunteers and intense media and public interest.

Private underwater search specialists were also called in by her family amid, as conspiracy theories flew on social media - which lead to waves of sightseers and content creators visiting the scene.

Both police and media faced criticism after her body was found in the river around a mile farther downstream from the bench, on 19 February.

Police had urged people not to speculate about the disappearance and maintained from early on there were no suspicious circumstances and that Ms Bulley may have gone into the water due to an “issue” with her springer spaniel dog, Willow.

Ms Bulley’s family and friends said they did not believe the police “theory” and urged people to continue searching. Paul Ansell, her partner of 12 years, gave TV interviews at the time 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 both questioning the police approach.

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. Part of the review will include inquiries made by the Information Commissioner’s Office over the force’s disclosure of her personal information.

The Independent Office for Police Conduct also looked at a welfare check on Nicola 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 by Ms Bulley's family.