Nicola Bulley likely to be struggling within two breaths of falling into river, inquest told

• Granada Reports correspondent Rob Smith sent this report from Preston County Hall

Nicola Bulley would likely have been struggling within "two breaths" of falling into an icy river, a world expert in drowning incidents has told her inquest.

Professor Michael Tipton said there would have been a “fairly rapid incapacitation” after Ms Bulley went into the River Wyre on the morning of January 27.

He testified that two breaths of water would have been a “lethal dose” for 45-year-old Ms Bulley.

Prof Tipton, from the Extreme Environments Laboratory at Portsmouth University, told the inquest in Preston about the exact nature of the drowning process.

He said: "You get a rapid fall in skin temperature, with an uncontrollable breath in and hyperventilation."

When falling into cold water, Professor Tipton said: "You are preoccupied with the challenge you are faced with but your ability to breath hold is significantly impaired.

"Those first few seconds in water people aren’t considering anything else."

He said the water temperature would have provoked the "maximum" shock response to anyone falling in.

Prof Tipton said someone falling into the river on the day that Ms Bulley did would have "20 to 30 seconds of useful consciousness".

He added: "It is a very rapid incapacitation."

“For somebody of Nicola’s size, it would have taken one or two breaths in of water to be a lethal dose," Prof Tipton said.

Dr Patrick Morgan, a consultant anaesthetist and medical director for HM Coastguard 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.

“In my opinion, given the nature of the likely entry into the water, at speed down a steep slope, gone into the water I think Nikki had a gasp response under the water which initiated the drowning response very quickly.”

Ms Bulley died as a result of drowning and was alive when she fell into the water, was told earlier.

Dr Alison Armour, a Home Office pathologist who carried out the post-mortem examination on the body of Ms Bulley, gave the cause of death as drowning.

She told an inquest in Preston this was due to "watery fluid" identified in Ms Bulley's stomach. There were also fragments of dirt or mud at the back of the throat and below the vocal chords.

Dr Armour said these are “typical features we see in cases of drowning”.

Ms Armour said: "In my opinion, Nicola Bulley was alive when she was in the water as it is an active process to inhale fluid into the lungs."

Ms Bulley had not been drinking before her death, Dr Armour added.

Ms Armour added that there is no indication that Ms Bulley was assaulted or harmed and there is no evidence of third party involvement.

Ms Bulley vanished 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.

Her phone which was still connected to a work Teams call, was found on a bench overlooking the water.

Her body was found in the river around a mile farther downstream from the bench, on 19 February.

Ms Bulley, a mortgage adviser originally from near Chelmsford but living in Inskip, was immediately deemed a "high risk" missing person, sparking a huge police search operation.

The inquest also heard from other experts about how difficult it would have been for someone to haul themselves out of that stretch of water.

PC Matthew Thackray, from the North West Police Underwater Search & Marine Unit, said he believes Ms Bulley fell into the river before floating downstream.

The inquest was played a video of the police diving expert entering the River Wyre.

PC Thackray told the inquest there was a one metre drop to the water from the riverbank on the day that Nicola Bulley went missing.

He said: “The river was 4 degrees, 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.

When asked if it would be possible to climb out of the river, PC Thackray said: "It is very difficult to get yourself out of the water here. There is nothing to pull yourself out."

He said he believes Ms Bulley travelled down the River Wyre at a speed of about two knots a second.

The coroner asked PC Thackray if he could swim against the current when he was in the river.

PC Thackray said: "You could swim against the current but it was exertion to do so. You could feel the river pushing against you."

Dr Lorna Dennison-Wilkins, a human body movements in waterways expert quoted the National Water Safety Drowning Prevention Strategy.

This says 44% of people that fall into water and drown don’t expect or have no intention to have gone in.

She said: "It is almost impossible to swim against the current. You're best to go with the current and find a place of safety if you could."

Ms Bulley's partner Paul Ansell, as well as her sister, mother and father were present for proceedings.

The family has requested that Nicola to be referred to as Nikki throughout the proceedings.

Additional security measures have been put in place for the hearing, partly as a response to "unusual online commentary", coroner Dr Adeley said.

He gave Ms Bulley's family his condolences and to her children.

The inquest is expected to last two days.

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