A woman lay dead in a restaurant toilet for three days before anyone noticed, her heartbroken daughter has claimed. Jade Casey, 27, says her mum Sabrina Marlynn Lyttle, 47, was found dead at The Gurkha Buffet Restaurant, Hotel and Bar in Blackpool, Lancs.
Jade and Sabrina’s mum Christine, 68, say they are unsure why she went into the toilet but said nobody from the restaurant realised that she was in there for three days. She says she now feels “heartbroken” knowing that her mum was in the disabled toilet, while people were eating and drinking.
Jade 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. 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.”
Jade said that CCTV footage showed Sabrina, of Blackpool, Lancs., entering the restaurant on November 28 last year and going into the disabled toilet. She said that they “aren’t sure” why she decided to go into the restaurant but police said that there were no drugs at the scene.
Jade said: “There wasn’t any drugs at the scene and CCTV footage showed her entering the building on the Thursday. 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. We really aren’t sure but there wasn’t any drugs at the scene.”
Jade, of Fleetwood, Lancs., has also paid tribute to her mum – describing her as a “really nice person” who was “funny and kind.”
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.”
The Gurkha Buffet Restaurant, Hotel and Bar have been contacted for a comment.