Nicola Bulley search: What were missing dog walker’s movements before she disappeared?
More than week on from Nicola Bulley’s disappearance, the search for the mother-of-two is still under way in Lancashire.
The 45-year-old mortgage adviser was last seen walking her dog on a footpath by the River Wyre in St Michael’s on Wyre on the morning of Friday 27 January.
Police have said they are focusing their investigation on a crucial 10-minute window when her movements are unaccounted for – from 9.10am to 9.20am.
Lancashire Constabulary has now confirmed her movements that morning.
8.43am – Ms Bulley walked along the path by the River Wyre, having dropped her children off at school.
8.47am – A dog-walker – somebody who knows Ms Bulley – saw her walking around the lower field with her dog. Their two dogs interacted briefly before the witness left the field via the river path.
8.53am – Ms Bulley sent an email to her boss.
9.01am – Ms Bulley logged into a work conference call on Microsoft Teams.
9.10am – A witness – someone who knows Ms Bulley – saw her on the upper field walking her dog, Willow. The dog was not in its harness and off its lead. This is the last confirmed sighting of Ms Bulley.
9.20am – Police believe Nicola’s phone was left on a bench by the river.
9.30am – The conference call ended but Ms Bulley stayed logged on.
9.33am – Ms Bulley’s mobile phone was found on the bench by another dog walker. Her dog was found running between the bench and a gate to the field. The dog’s harness was found on the grass between the bench and the river’s edge.
This witness then made inquiries as to who owned the phone and spoke with people who recognised the dog as Ms Bulley’s.
10.50am – Ms Bulley’s family and the school her children attend were alerted about the situation.
Latest:
Family and friends insist ‘no evidence’ behind police theory
Nicola’s partner ‘staying as strong as he can’
River ‘very dangerous’ this time of year
Search teams have examined the river all the way to the sea, which is 9.3 miles (15km) away, after Lancashire Constabulary said they believe Ms Bulley fell in.
The river, which winds through the countryside on the edge of St Michael’s on Wyre, has been described as “notoriously dangerous” at this time of year by a representative of St Michael’s Angling Association.
“The combination of the depth and how cold it is at this time of year makes it very dangerous,” the representative told The Times.
A sign on a tree near the bench where Ms Bulley’s phone was found reads: “Danger, deep water.”
Big rocks can be seen jutting out of the river, which appears calm at the sharp drop below the bench where Ms Bulley’s phone was found.
The bench where Nicola Bulley’s phone was found, on the banks of the River Wyre
Supt Riley told reporters on Friday: “At the point where the bench is located, there is quite a steep drop to the river, albeit not high. It is steep.
“Therefore, while I don’t want to speculate as to what may have happened, it is our working hypothesis that she has entered the water accidentally.”
She continuned: “The dog was off the lead, this was normal for the dog to run about and Nicola was on a teams call, which again it would be normal for her not to participate in actively and just have the phone to listen in, effectively.
“Anything could have happened with the dog whereby Nicola may have gone – and I don’t wish to speculate, we don’t know – but it is possible the dog was loose and off the lead that there may have been an issue with the dog that led her to go near to the water’s edge.
Specialist search teams from Lancashire Police, beside the bench (top left) where Nicola Bulley’s phone was found, on the banks of the River Wyre, in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, as the search continues for the missing woman who was last seen on
“She puts the phone down momentarily and Nicola may have fallen in. That is a possibility,” Supt Riley added.
She confirmed Ms Bulley can swim, but said searchers have been both wading in the River Wyre and diving beneath the surface due to the different water depths, though no conclusive evidence has been recovered as of yet.
Birmingham band UB40 say the city’s striking bin workers and their union should “keep fighting” in their dispute over pay.
It comes as the government and the council urged them to accept a “fair and reasonable offer”.
“We’re fully on their side,” drummer Jimmy Brown told Sky News. “I think they shouldn’t give up, they should still be fighting.
“Working people shouldn’t have to take a reduction in their incomes, which is what we’re talking about here.
“We’re talking about people being paid less and it seems to me with prices going up, heating, buying food, inflation and rents going up then people need a decent wage to have a half decent life… keep going boys!”
Members of the Unite union in Birmingham earlier this month. Pic: PA
Workers joined picket lines again on Thursday, with some fearing they could be up to £600 a month worse off if they accept the terms.
“We have total utter support for the bin men and all trade unions,” said guitarist Robin Campbell.
“The other side is always going to say they’ve made a reasonable offer – the point is they’re the ones who’ve messed up, they’re the ones who’ve gone bankrupt, they’re the ones now trying to reduce the bin men’s wages.”
👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈
Lead singer Matt Doyle told Sky News: “It’s a shame that what we’re seeing is all the images of rats and rubbish building up, that is going to happen inevitably, but we’ve just got to keep fighting through that.”
About 22,000 tonnes of rubbish accumulated on the city’s streets after a major incident was declared last month by Birmingham City Council.
Rubbish has blighted the city’s streets for weeks . Pic: PA
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Bin situation ‘pains me’ – council boss
On a visit to the city, local government minister Jim McMahon said the union and local authority should continue to meet in “good faith” and the government felt there was a deal that could be “marshalled around”.
He paid tribute to the “hundreds of workers” who have worked “around the clock” to clear the rubbish.
Read more:
Bin workers urged to accept ‘fair’ offer
Military planners help with bin crisis
“As we stand here today, 85% of that accumulated waste has been cleared and the council have a plan in place now to make sure it doesn’t accumulate going forward,” said Mr McMahon.
Sky News understands talks are not set to resume until next week.
Trans women in British Transport Police custody will now be strip searched by male officers – not female – following Wednesday’s Supreme Court ruling.
The force said it is introducing an “interim position” while it digests the Supreme Court’s decision that the definition of a “woman” under the Equality Act 2010 refers to “a biological woman and biological sex”.
A British Transport Police (BTP) Authority spokesman told Sky News: “Under previous policy, we had advised that someone with a gender recognition certificate (GRC) may be searched in accordance with their acquired sex.
“However, as an interim position while we digest today’s judgment, we have advised our officers that any same sex searches in custody are to be undertaken in accordance with the biological birth sex of the detainee.”
Politics latest: Badenoch responds to Jenrick WhatsApp mishap
In September last year, BTP, which is responsible for policing the UK’s railways and similar transport systems, published its “position” on transgender and non-binary officers carrying out strip searches.
It said officers would “only be able to search persons of the same sex on their birth or gender recognition certificate (GRC).
Officers who identified as another gender but who did not have a GRC were not allowed to, but if a trans woman had a certificate, they could strip search a female detainee.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Gender ruling – How it happened
Strip searches involve the removal of more than a jacket, outer coat, gloves, headwear and footwear.
They “expose buttocks, genitalia and (female) breasts”, the BTP guidance says.
The Sex Matters campaign applied for a judicial review of that guidance with the High Court in December.
It said the policy “puts detainees at risk of sexual harassment and sexual assault”, and said it was a violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects against torture and inhuman or degrading treatment.
Sex Matters said the policy “also puts female officers in a humiliating and dangerous position, as they may be pressured to search trans-identified men”.
Read more: NHS must stop trans people being allowed on single-sex wars
Campaigners celebrated outside the Supreme Court after Wednesday’s ruling. Pic: PA
One of the High Court judges who made Wednesday’s decision, Lord Hodge, said the ruling should not be read as “a triumph of one or more groups in our society at the expense of another”.
Government minister Karin Smyth told Sky News public bodies have been told to look at how equality laws are implemented following the ruling.
She said: “Obviously, public bodies have been asked to look at their own guidance.
“And we will do that very, very carefully.”
But she warned against public bodies making statements “that may alarm people”, telling them to take their time to look at their guidance.
Baroness Kishwer Falkner, chair of the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), said the ruling means there is “no confusion” now.
She said the NHS will “have to change” its 2019 policy, which says transgender patients are entitled to be accommodated on single-sex wards matching how they identify.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway