Newsquest investigations editor Mark Williams-Thomas is at County Hall in Preston for the two-day inquest into the death of Nicola Bulley

The disappearance of Nicola Bulley has grabbed the public’s attention, unlike any other missing person case in the last few years.

So much so that it has divided opinion.

The police were from the start clearly treating her disappearance as a tragic accident, that she fell in the water. But this is not the view shared by all, with hundreds, possible thousands who have shared their alternative views on social media.

Such is the interest in the case it was moved to the County Hall in Preston and additional security brought in.

The coroner Dr James Adeley warned all attendees not to disrupt proceedings, this following 'unusual online commentary' about Ms Bulley's death.

Dr Adeley said: “If anybody has the slightest idea of contemplating disrupting this inquest, or matters in the precinct of this court, they should be aware this may amount to contempt of court.”

Given my background and having been to many inquests I normally know exactly what the crucial evidence is that I am listening for, and it will normally come from the pathologist and the police experts and often comes quite early on in the proceedings.

Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour examined Nikki’s body two days after she was recovered from the River Wyre and she stated that whilst Nikki did have bruising to certain parts of her body she has no trauma to her neck and no signs of strangulation.

She showed consistent signs of 'asphyxia' caused by lack of oxygen, and water was found in her lungs. Dr Armour concluded that Nikki was alive when she entered the water, and the cause of death was drowning - a definitive and clear determination.

Also, very significantly the toxicology results showed that Nikki had not consumed any alcohol or drugs. I remain very critical of the release of information by Lancashire Police that Nikki had alcohol issues brought on by menopause. I have read that many people on social media, as a result of this statement by police, jumped to the conclusion that she had been drinking that morning.

Next up was PC Thackery, a diving expert who gave his opinion that Nikki entered the very cold water, about 4 degrees, in the area by the bench and then her deceased body floated, around obstacles on the water bed, and trees in the water, around bends and over a weir, before coming to rest where she was finally found about two miles downstream.

Then came three witnesses whose evidence did challenge his hypothesis. Professor Michael Tipton, a world leading expert in the mechanism by which a person dies from drowning, said that at the temperature the river Wyre was on the day she went missing, a person would lose consciousness within around 25 seconds.

He added: "It is very rapid incapacitation” and fellow expert Dr Morgan went further, he stated that the length of time that someone could hold their breath is "10 seconds at best and it was most likely one to two seconds". So, death would have been almost immediate for Nikki as she entered the water on that day.

Sgt Dennison-Wilkins, a serving police officer and expert on what happens to a body after a person dies by drowning, then stated that although the clothes Nikki was wearing would have given some initial buoyancy, very quickly her body would have sunk.

Wilkins' evidence was correct, but why was she not asked to explain, given almost instant death on entering the water, as Dr Morgan had just explained, and therefore her body sinking, how could Nikki’s have floated over a 100-yards downstream around obstacles and over a weir?

The next most significant witness was DC Keith Greenhalgh, a digital forensic expert who said he believes she fell into the water between 9.18am and 9.30am – with a peak on the Fitbit watch data suggesting she “very possibly” entered the water at 9.22am.

A very difficult day for Nikki’s family and loved ones, to hear such distressing and upsetting detail about her, but it will have provided some answers, and the family should take comfort from the fact that the data facts are fixed and don’t lie, and whilst we always try to apply logic to a tragic situation sometimes events just happen and defy logic.

So, I am confident that with today’s evidence, Nikki died of drowning, but I am not convinced and have heard no supporting evidence that she went into the water at the point by the bench.

Sadly, we will never know exactly what happened to Nikki on the morning of January 27, a day that changed the lives forever of her partner Paul, their two children, Nikki’s family and her many friends.