Mum-of-two Sabrina Lyttle, 47, lay dead inside a disabled toilet at a hotel in Blackpool – with staff finally calling the police after noticing her body through the keyhole three days later
A woman who lay dead in a locked restaurant toilet for three days may have gone inside to “keep warm”, an inquest has heard.
Mum-of-two Sabrina Lyttle, 47, was found lifeless inside a disabled cubicle at the Gurkha Hotel Pub and Restaurant in Blackpool, almost 48 hours after she was last seen entering it. Staff only realised something was wrong when they looked through the keyhole and noticed a body. Police forced open the door on November 30 and found a crack pipe on the floor next to her, along with a magazine, a carrier bag and some Bakewell cherry tarts.
Detective Inspector Liam Davy, who investigated the death, told the hearing: “My hypothesis at the time was she possibly entered the toilet to keep warm and that her death was caused by the drugs or because of a medical episode. There was no evidence of outside involvement.”
Sabrina had likely died shortly after entering the toilet on the evening of November 28. She had recently served three weeks of an eight-week prison sentence for theft and was known to have struggled with drug use. Toxicology results showed cocaine, Valium, methadone and a small amount of alcohol in her system.
According to consultant forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd, her body showed no signs of serious illness but he warned that her reduced drug tolerance following prison could have contributed to her death. “It is really difficult to tell because it all depends on her tolerance to these drugs,” he told the court. “A period in prison – even one as short as this – and the non use of a drug like cocaine can see tolerance levels decrease extremely rapidly.”
Sabrina’s family wept in court as they learned of the details. Her daughter Jade Casey, 27, and mother Christine, 68, said they were still unsure why she had gone into the toilet that night. Friend Erika Zazzu, who set up a GoFundMe appeal in her memory, described her as “a person who was in pain and who dealt with that pain as best she could.”, as well as a loving mum to two daughters.
Staff from the Gurkha restaurant attended the inquest but did not give evidence. At the time of her death, the restaurant said they believed she must have picked the lock to get into the toilet, which they claimed is only cleaned after use – and had not been used again until she was found.