Woman ‘lay dead in restaurant toilet for three days before anyone noticed’

A woman lay dead in a disabled toilet for three days in a Blackpool restaurant before being discovered.

Sabrina Marlynn Lyttle, 47, walked into The Gurkha Buffet Restaurant in Blackpool shortly after 8.30pm on November 28, 2024.

According to CCTV footage seen by the restaurant, she asked staff for directions to the pub toilets, and then entered the restaurant’s disabled toilets instead which they said ‘cannot be opened without a RADAR key.’

Three days later when restaurant staff opened up the toilet, they found Ms Lyttle’s dead body.

Now, Sabrina ‘s daughter, 27-year-old Jade Casey, has shared her anger that her mum wasn’t found sooner.

She said: ‘The police have told us that customers were complaining that they couldn’t get into the toilet, but they assumed something had happened with the lock.

‘They then opened up the disabled toilet and found her on the Saturday morning.

‘I’m angry because she could have been found sooner, they should have done the usual toilet checks.’

Jade added that her mum’s death has left her ‘heartbroken.’

She said: ‘It’s heartbreaking because we know she was left in the cold, on her own.

‘I know she was dead but it’s the fact she was there while people were eating and drinking.

‘We don’t know the cause of death yet but there’s part of us that thought she might have been struggling and needed help and then could have been saved.

‘We think she broke into the disabled toilet – we think she picked the lock to get in so she didn’t have to ask for a key.

‘We aren’t sure of the circumstances of why she went in, it could have been to get warm because she had been released from prison the day before.’

A statement released by The Gurkha Buffet Restaurant claims staff tried to open the disabled toilet prior to the discovery of Ms Lyttle’s body but were unable to.

It said: ‘On Thursday 28th November 2024 at 8.34pm, a non-customer member of the public entered the premises and asked to use the toilets.

‘As the restaurant had already closed for the evening, directions to the pub toilets, which are in a separate area of the building, were given. Staff in the pub provided further directions to the general pub toilets and did not issue access to the disabled toilet.

‘Access to the separate and locked disabled toilet is gained via staff as the facility cannot be opened with a RADAR key. The male and female toilets are deep-cleaned every morning and checked throughout the day, with the disabled toilet checked after every authorised use and cleaned as required, due to infrequent use.

‘Access to the disabled toilet was not requested until Friday evening around 10pm. The staff with the assistance of other helpful pub customers were unable to unlock the door and as access had not been granted for the past 24 hours, it was reported as a maintenance issue to management.

‘The following day on Saturday before opening, management was unable to gain access using all secure keys and removing the locking mechanism before alerting the police.

‘We are aware of public posts that are full of information that is not correct, and we believe the speculations have not contributed positively to anyone affected, including the grieving family, the dedicated Gurkha staff and the community of Blackpool.

‘We are aware of an ongoing inquest and will not be making any further public comments.’

Ms Lyttle had been released from prison just a day before her death, says her daughter.

The 47-year-old was ‘in and out of homelessness’ and had struggled with addiction, but police found no drugs at the scene.

Ms Casey paid tribute to her ‘funny and kind’ mum.

She said: ‘She suffered with addiction and she was in and out of homeless for the last 25 years but she was a really nice person.

‘She was funny and she was kind.’

A Lancashire Police spokesperson said: ‘We were called at shortly after 1pm on Saturday, November 30th to a report of a sudden death at an address on Waterloo Road in Blackpool.

‘Officers attended and sadly the body of a woman in her 40s was found dead inside the address.

‘Our thoughts are with her loved ones at this time.

‘The death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be prepared for HM Coroner.’

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