Corrie Mckeague's mother says police got it right

The mother of an RAF gunner who died after climbing into a bin has said the police "got it right" after evidence was explained at an inquest.

Corrie McKeague from Dunfermline, Fife, was 23 when he disappeared after a night out in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, on 24 September 2016.

Nicola Urquhart, a police officer herself, had previously lost faith in the force investigating her son's case.

However, she said lessons had been learned over communication.

Mr Mckeague was last seen on CCTV going into a commercial waste bin loading area but his body has never been found despite extensive searches.

On Tuesday, inquest jurors in Ipswich concluded he died after climbing into the bin which was then tipped into a waste lorry.

In a narrative conclusion they said Mr Mckeague died at about 04:20 BST in Bury St Edmunds as a result of "compression asphyxia in association with multiple injuries".

They said his "death was contributed to by impaired judgment due to alcohol consumption".

Early in the police investigation, Ms Urquhart had raised concerns over Suffolk Police's ability to find her son, though at the time Assistant Chief Constable Louisa Pepper said she had devoted "inordinate" resources to the case.

Ms Urquhart continued to work with the force, but said she had lost faith in their operation.

Two years later, she said she believed evidence on the weight of a bin load taken to landfill in the hours after he disappeared had been manipulated.

Waste firm Biffa initially told police the weight of the bin was 11kg (1st 10lbs), and was therefore not heavy enough to contain a person, but it was later recorded as 116kg (18st 3lbs).

Speaking to the BBC's Drivetime with John Beattie, Ms Urquhart said that hearing the weight issue explained in evidence during the inquest was one of the big reasons she was able to accept the conclusion over her son's death.

"It was ridiculous how much time, emotions, everything have just been wasted and just destroyed because of that fact being given to the police," she said.

"The police have got it right - Corrie did go into the back of the bin lorry and he did end up in the landfill process somewhere."

Ms Urquhart said she had a "really honest, good conversation" with police chiefs following the outcome of the inquest.

"The relief that we have as a family after them having a conversation with us was huge," she said.

"Suffolk Police have learned from this and hopefully there will be things that we'll be able to share with people that will prevent somebody else going through some of these things."

On Tuesday Mr Mckeague's father, Martin Mckeague, criticised "conspiracy theorists" who he said had misled people.

However, the airman's brother, Makeyan told the BBC it was necessary for police to investigate even "outlandish, unrealistic" theories in order to rule out possibilities and to give his family clarity.

He added: "Yes there have been issues during the investigation where communication was lacking or we weren't given clarity on some things but the past two weeks we've certainly got a lot of clarity."

His brother Darroch agreed that while hearing details over the last two weeks had helped the family understand Mr Mckeague's final moments, he said the grief has also resurfaced.

"We've basically been told Corrie has died yesterday," he said. "I struggle to put it into words - for the past five years I've been able to say to myself 'he could be alive somewhere' just to make myself feel better - even though I don't believe that."

Thinking about the man her son was, Ms Urquhart made a difficult admission.

"He is a young man that went missing after a night out drinking - he did do this to himself," she said.

But reflecting on the sheer volume of support from the public, she also revealed she took comfort in knowing he was "loved because of who he was".

She said: "So many people did not know him and yet they all understand the impact he had on people. He's quite indescribable really."