Woman's body found in Blackpool restaurant two days after CCTV catches her entering
Sabrina Lyttle was inside the restaurant for two days before her body was discovered
The body of a woman was found inside the toilets of a Blackpool restaurant a full two days after she was seen entering.
Sabrina Lyttle, 47, was captured by CCTV entering The Gurkha restaurant on Waterloo Road on November 28, 2024.
What happened next is less clear, but Sabrina gained entry to a disabled toilets and the restaurant claimed they did not give her access.
Then at around 1pm on November 30, 2024, police were called after the discovery of the body.
The death is not being treated as suspicious from a criminal perspective but the incident has raised questions over the level of support Sabrina was receiving and how she was able to be inside a trading restaurant for two days without being discovered.
An inquest will be held on April 3, 2025 to determine the circumstances of Sabrina’s death with the aim of providing answers for her family and loved ones.
Blackpool Council will also be investigating the incident with officers due to visit The Gurkha when it reopens after a Christmas break.
Sabrina’s mother Catherine had posted to a public Facebook group that the restaurant should be ‘ashamed’, questioned the hygiene of the restaurant, and said that multiple customers had reported the door to the toilet where Sabrina’s body was found would not open. This post appears to have been removed since.
The restaurant said posts online about the incident are ‘full of information that is not correct’ and attributed the time taken to find Sabrina’s body to ‘infrequent use’ of the disabled toilets.
A spokesperson for The Gurkha told The Blackpool Lead: “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.”
A Blackpool Council spokesperson told The Blackpool Lead: “Our public protection team has recently been made aware of this tragic death. Once the property has reopened after its Christmas closure they will be speaking to the operator. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of Sabrina Lyttle.”
A spokesperson for Lancashire Constabulary 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.”
The question of the support Sabrina received has been raised because at the start of November 2024, shortly before her death, she was sentenced to eight weeks in prison after appearing at Lancaster Magistrates’ Court.
She did not serve the full sentence and was released shortly before she came to be inside The Gurkha restaurant at the end of the same month.
When she was jailed, police declared a ‘great result’ as they continue to crackdown on shoplifting through their Operation Vulture campaign.