Corrie Mckeague: Missing airman inquest hears bins were checked

CCTV cameras recorded Mr Mckeague walking into an area in central Bury St Edmunds known as the "horseshoe"

A bin lorry driver insisted he checked inside bins before emptying them in the area where an RAF airman was last seen.

Martyn Thompson said he saw a man wearing light-coloured trousers and a pink shirt similar to that worn by missing serviceman Corrie Mckeague.

Mr Mckeague, from Dunfermline, Fife, vanished in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, during a night out in September 2016.

Police believe the 23-year-old RAF gunner climbed into a bin which was then tipped into a waste lorry.

Lawyers for Suffolk Police rejected Mr Thompson's account, arguing that he had been in the area for less than a minute - and would not have had time to check the bins.

Mr Mckeague, who was stationed at RAF Honington, was captured on CCTV entering the service area at 03.25 BST.

Mr Mckeague was last seen on CCTV heading towards a bin loading area behind some shops in Bury St Edmunds town centre

Mr Thompson told the inquest in Ipswich that he arrived at the service area behind a Greggs bakery at 04:19, for the first stop on his round.

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He said he saw "another individual" wearing light-coloured trousers and a pink shirt, leaning against a wall and "looking at a mobile phone, as the screen was illuminated".

"I thought: 'He's a smartly-dressed chap, he's been on a night out'," Mr Thompson said.

He said he got out of the lorry to empty the Greggs bin and then did not see the man again.

Asked by Peter Taheri, counsel to the inquest, if he checked inside the bin before emptying it, Mr Thompson said: "I checked it. I lifted the lid, I can recall what was in there."

He said he looked "far enough to see three clear plastic bags".

Asked if there was anyone inside the bin, he replied: "No, there wasn't."

Mr Mckeague was last seen on CCTV alone in Bury St Edmunds - outside The Grapes pub in the town centre

Mr Taheri asked if Mr Thompson gave the bin a "good enough kick to rouse anyone inside", and Mr Thompson replied: "Absolutely, yes."

Asked if he would be surprised to hear that there was "more than 100kg" (15st 10lb) in the bin, Mr Thompson replied: "Yes."

Lawyer Matthew Holdcroft, for Suffolk Police, told Mr Thompson: "The part of your account we reject is that you looked inside the bin."

Mr Holdcroft said that the time taken for the bin lorry to enter and leave the service area was 51 seconds.

Mr Thompson disagreed with Mr Holdcroft's suggestion that he "simply didn't have the time to look in the bin".

Mr Holdcroft suggested to Mr Thompson: "You didn't take any care whatsoever."

The bin lorry driver replied: "No, I did."

The inquest earlier heard from Alex Knowles, the bass guitarist in a band that played at a nearby pub and finished at 01:00, who described seeing a man asleep in a shop doorway.

Mr Mckeague was seen on CCTV, asleep, by the Hughes store for some two hours before he walked to the service area behind Greggs.

Mr Knowles said he nudged Mr Mckeague to try to wake him, and that Mr Mckeague "lifted an arm to wave him away".

The inquest, due to last four weeks, continues.

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