Dog walker who found Nicola Bulley’s phone speaks out for the first time

'I thought 'this is not right''

The dog walker who found the phone of missing mum Nicola Bulley has spoken out for the first time since her disappearance.

The man, who said he was called Ron, spoke to Sky News this morning (February 17) three weeks after the mortgage adviser vanished in St Michael's on Wyre.

In an extraordinary coincidence he bumped into Sky's Kay Burley and Inzamam Rashid as he was walking his dog whilst they retraced Nicola's last movements before her disappearance.

He confirmed he had given a full statement to the police after finding Ms Bulley's phone on the bench at around 9.30am on January 27.

He said: "Each day something new comes out doesn't it."

He didn't know Nicola but recognised her dog Willow.

"I'd seen both owners of Willow walking this dog in the past, but while I knew their faces I didn't know their names,' he said.

Ron added that when he first found the phone he thought "somebody had gone to toilet".

He added: "I got to about this red brick building here and I thought 'this is not right.

"Then it was just a progression of things happening, you know. Because of the wallpaper on the phone we found out who the couple were, and the school was contacted and Paul [Ansell, Nicola's partner] arrived."

You can watch the full clip below. https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1626513860122345472 On Wednesday, police held a press conference where they revealed for the first time that the mum-of-two was categorised as "high risk" due to "a number of specific vulnerabilities". They did not elaborate further to the media, and said they would not be revealing what these vulnerabilities were out of respect for the privacy of her family. But later that day, Lancashire Police stated on Facebook that Ms Bulley "in the past suffered with some significant issues with alcohol which were brought on by her ongoing struggles with the menopause". They added that these issues had "resurfaced in recent months". The force have been on the receiving end of a backlash as a result, with many questioning why they felt the need to share this private information and what point it served in terms of the investigation. https://twitter.com/nazirafzal/status/1625986277320413184 https://twitter.com/stellacreasy/status/1625919564797050885?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1625919564797050885%7Ctwgr%5Eaf7ae7f004b7b73b2f3bfea9fda910aacc80470e%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fnicola-bulleys-friend-says-police-shared-her-alcohol-struggles-to-shift-focus-off-them-378422 https://twitter.com/aliciakearns/status/1625934789856436225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1625934789856436225%7Ctwgr%5E203481061b18679f11ac0643d63f9e88320696d4%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fnews%2Fnicola-bulleys-friend-says-police-shared-her-alcohol-struggles-to-shift-focus-off-them-378422   A friend of Nicola's said they believe police shared the information so they could "shift the focus away from the lack of progress in the case". Related links:

• Lancashire police to be questioned over Nicola Bulley case
• Nicola Bulley's family reveal new info about her health and what may have 'caused this crisis'
• Nicola Bulley's friend says police shared her alcohol struggles to 'shift focus' off them