Corrie Mckeague 'would walk home to RAF base' - inquest

A missing airman had previously mentioned he would walk the eight miles (13km) home to his RAF base after a night out, an inquest heard.

Corrie Mckeague, from Dunfermline, Fife, was 23 when he vanished in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, in September 2016.

Police believe he died after climbing into a waste bin after a night out, but his body has never been found.

Alicia Gallagher told the inquest that Mr Mckeague told her he would walk back to his base after nights out.

The airman was stationed at RAF Honington and went missing after going out on Friday, 23 September.

Ms Gallagher said she first met Mr Mckeague at Flex nightclub in Bury St Edmunds in December 2015, and he was "really sociable".

She said when they left the nightclub that time, her sister was concerned "he wasn't going home with anyone".

"We offered him some money for a taxi - he did mention a base, but he didn't say which base it was," she told Suffolk Coroner's Court.

"He said he walked... one time, which my sister wasn't happy with.

"In the end I think he just wandered off."

She added: "He said he had done it before... it's something I remember from that night as I thought 'that's so far, I wouldn't do that', but then I'm not a young, fit male.

"It was a striking point that he mentioned walking home, that he had done it before."

She said she briefly saw Mr Mckeague a second time in the Wetherspoon pub in Bury St Edmunds.

The last confirmed sighting of him was at 03:25 BST on Saturday, 24 September, when CCTV cameras recorded him walking into an area in the town centre known as the "horseshoe", behind Greggs and Superdrug, where industrial waste bins were kept.

The second day of the inquest also heard Mr Mckeague had bought a bottle of vodka from the Spar shop at RAF Honington on the Friday.

The inquest, due to last four weeks, continues.

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email [email protected]