Corrie Mckeague: Man seen by binman 'was not missing airman'

Corrie Mckeague, who was based at RAF Honington near Bury St Edmunds, was last seen wearing light-coloured trousers and a pink shirt

Police do not believe a man described by a bin lorry driver, in the area where Corrie Mckeague was last seen on CCTV, was the airman, an inquest heard.

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

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

Ch Supt Marina Ericson said "it was the police view" it was not Mr Mckeague.

The gunner was based at RAF Honington, about 10 miles north of Bury St Edmunds.

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The coroner's court in Ipswich heard Mr Thompson initially told police he saw a "smartly-dressed, white male in light-coloured clothing with light-coloured trousers, holding a mobile phone; he appeared to be 18 to 20 years old".

A week later, he described the man to police as "18 to 22 years old, smartly-dressed" with a "pink, light-coloured shirt which he believed to be long-sleeved", adding he had "light brown or blonde-coloured hair that was short at the sides but longer at the top".

Ch Supt Ericson said it was "more detail, more specific than his first account".

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

She said a possible explanation was that Mr Thompson had been "exposed to newspaper coverage or a media appeal for Corrie with that description and his evidence has become coloured, even if subconsciously".

It was also heard that a man in a yellow top, blue hoody and dark trousers, who was later traced by police, was in the area at the time, and could have been the man Mr Thompson saw.

Corrie Mckeague went missing after being asked to leave a nightclub in September 2016

Police believe Mr Mckeague climbed into a bin which was then tipped into a waste lorry, but he has never been found.

Mr Thompson previously told the inquest he had checked the bin, but Ch Supt Ericson said that was disputed by police because of "all the evidence that's held in this case".

She said: "We now know that that bin weighed 116kg.

"We now know that was an extremely heavy weight for that particular bin on a Saturday.

"We've found no other explanation for what could have been in that bin that would have constituted that weight.

"We have the additional evidence of Corrie's phone tracking the bin lorry on its journey."

The inquest, being heard with a jury, continues.

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