Jamie Stevens, 51, continued living inside the property where his ex-partner Anouska Sites lay dead in the lounge
Zahra Khaliq News Reporter and Cheryl Mullin
20:12, 11 Aug 2025
Jamie Stevens continued living inside the flat where his ex-partner Anouska Sites lay dead (Image: PA)
A man who found his former girlfriend dead on his sofa simply draped her in a blanket and left her body there for years. Jamie Stevens remained living in the Torquay flat while Anouska Sites body lay in the lounge.
Exeter Crown Court heard Ms Sites was last seen in May 2022, but it wasn’t until May 2025 that her remains here discovered. Ms Sites was reported missing in April 2023, prosecutor Hollie Gilbery said. Ms Gilbery continued: “Inquiries confirmed she had last been seen by police in May the previous year. Unfortunately, due to her vulnerabilities, including mental health problems and addictions, she had been in fairly regular contact with the police.”
In April 2025, police contacted 51-year-old Stevens, a former partner of Ms Sites, to ask about her whereabouts. Ms Gilbery continued: “He told the police he had no contact with Ms Sites since February or March 2022.”
On May 27 police spoke with Stevens again and he said he was no longer living at the Upton Road flat. Officers entered the property.
Ms Gilbery told the court: “The officers who attended described the flat as being like that of a hoarder with rubbish, faeces and bottled urine scattered throughout the property.”
During their search of the flat officers lifted a blanket in the living room and found a skeletal arm and hand. They also found fragranced items in the lounge, suggesting they had been used to mask any smell.
Stevens, who dated Ms Sites from 2011 to 2014, was arrested and confirmed the body was hers.
Ms Gilbery continued: “He explained she had come to his flat around January 2023 asking if she could stay the night. He went to his own bed and left her sleeping in the living room. The next day he had gone out, returning at about 11.30pm, assuming that Ms Sites would have left, but instead he found her on the sofa.
“He explained he threw a blanket over her body and continued to live in his bedroom and never really returned to the lounge.”
Stevens, of Reddenhill Road, Torquay, had previously pleaded guilty to charges of preventing a lawful burial and perverting the course of justice.
The second charge related to Stevens lying to police in a witness statement about his knowledge of the whereabouts of Ms Sites. Paul Dentith, defending, described Stevens’s actions in not reporting the death as a “passive failure”.
Mr Dentith said Stevens had told him: “Ms Sites was a lovely person, my partner, my friend, and I was devastated when she died, and I miss her terribly. She deserved better.”
Jailing Stevens for 14 months, Judge Anna Richardson said: “This is an absolutely tragic case. You were in a relationship with Anouska Sites. Ms Sites had a number of difficulties, including substance misuse.
“It seems at some time between mid-2022 and April 2023 Miss Sites went missing. She was not reported missing until April this year. There is no reason on the basis of the post-mortem to doubt your account of having found Miss Sites dead in your address. It seems you completely wrongly panicked and simply covered her body. You left her there for years.”
Ms Site’s death is not being treated as suspicious and a file will be submitted to the coroner in due course. Senior investigating officer Detective Inspector Jeanne Hellyer said: “I welcome the sentence handed down by the court today in what is a very sad and tragic case.
“Anouska was denied the dignity and right of a lawful burial on her death by Stevens. My thoughts remain with Anouska’s family and friends, who can now lay her to rest.”