![\"Alicia](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_Alicia-Douglass-2.jpg\")
Alicia Douglass led a troubled life but was a wonderful mum, her family said(Image: Facebook)<\/p>\nNobody knows how Alicia Douglass died despite serious injury to her neckAlicia Douglass led a troubled life but was a wonderful mum, her family said(Image: Facebook)<\/p>\n
The body of a Sheffield mum who left behind a six-year-old daughter was not found for weeks after she died<\/a>.<\/p>\n Alicia Douglass, 35, was found at her house in Wincobank in Sheffield<\/a> on August 7, 2024. South Yorkshire Police<\/a> initially arrested her ex-partner, a 31-year-old male, on suspicion of murder<\/a>, but he was never charged and the investigation was closed.<\/p>\n Sheffield Coroner\u2019s Court<\/a> heard how police were unable to accurately ascertain the cause of death due to the decomposition of Alicia\u2019s body. There was no evidence of third-party involvement at the scene. A pathologist estimated Alicia had been dead for \u201ctwo to four weeks\u201d before she was found, and she was last seen on CCTV on July 23.<\/p>\n Hannah Berry, assistant coroner, concluded the reason for her death was \u201copen\u201d.<\/p>\n Hayley Bates, Alicia\u2019s cousin, told the court: \u201cShe had a troubled life, but she leaves behind a six-year-old daughter. If there\u2019s anything she got right, it was being a mum to Ava.\u201d She added: \u201cAlicia\u2019s mum would like a reason for why her daughter died and to be able to tell Ava what happened to her mum.\u201d<\/p>\n Get all the latest and breaking news in Yorkshire by <\/strong>signing up to our newsletter here.<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Leanne Watts, also a cousin of Alicia, added: \u201cWe understand the decomposition makes it difficult to determine certain evidence. The circumstances, to me, are suspicious in themselves. How can you explain it?\u201d<\/p>\n Evidence provided by DS Liam Milner showed Alicia was last seen in July looking \u201cyellow all over\u201d and extremely sick. DS Milner said the police found her after she was reported missing by a friend. She was lying across her bed with several empty bottles of cider in the room.<\/p>\n The ex-partner was charged following a domestic abuse incident in February on July 25, just two weeks before Alicia was found. DS Milner admitted there were concerns this was \u201cthe catalyst for something that happened in the flat\u201d. A knife was also found under her pillow.<\/p>\n However, DS Milner said there was \u201cnothing at the scene that indicated any third-party involvement\u201d. He said the police found \u201cno evidence\u201d the ex-partner was involved. He was released and the investigation was closed.<\/p>\n A pathologist\u2019s report highlighted concerns regarding bruising around the neck area due to a fractured larynx. However, due to the decomposition of the body, it was not possible to determine whether this contributed to Alicia\u2019s death. There was also evidence she had taken painkillers, including tramadol and mitrazapine, but the decomposition of the body made it difficult to determine the precise quantities in the bloodstream.<\/p>\n Dr Lumb said: \u201cAlthough the larynx fracture was concerning, it was not possible to be certain of the cause of Alicia\u2019s death.\u201d<\/p>\n A GP report said Alicia suffered from alcohol and painkiller abuse, was a victim of sexual assault, and had made several attempts to take her own life. She had not been prescribed the painkillers found in her system.<\/p>\n Ms Berry said: \u201cAlicia was last seen alive on CCTV on July 23 on CCTV. She had been dead for some time, and her body was decomposed. This made subsequent investigations difficult. Dr Lumb was concerned she may have been subjected to pressure to her neck, but was unable to confirm this.<\/p>\n \u201cThe police investigated this incident fully but did not find anything suspicious. The investigation found that friends and acquaintances reported Alicia was unwell. In particular, she was yellow and was vomiting. She had reported she was struggling to eat and was very thin.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result, on the balance of probabilities, it cannot be said how Alicia died. There are many possible explanations, but on the balance of probabilities, it just cannot be said. So, with respect to the cause of death, I accept that of Dr Lumb, unascertained. My conclusion to Alicia’s death is open.\u201d<\/p>\n Get all the latest and breaking Sheffield news straight to your inbox by <\/strong>signing up to our newsletter here.<\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Email and online newsletter, The Sheffield Drop, highlights the very best news across the Steel City, regardless of the source.<\/p>\n Edited by Yorkshire Live’s Sheffield reporter Andrew Dowdeswell, the free bulletin has no adverts and features the city’s most important news, all curated in an easy-to-read, digestible format.<\/p>\n You can read The Sheffield Drop in two places – on our website, here<\/a>, or delivered straight to your email inbox by subscribing using this link<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Nobody knows how Alicia Douglass died despite serious injury to her neckAlicia Douglass led a troubled life but…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548856,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8817],"tags":[748,188,393,4884,105,1620,159877,59157,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-548855","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sheffield","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-great-britain","12":"tag-health","13":"tag-sheffield","14":"tag-south-yorkshire-courts","15":"tag-south-yorkshire-police","16":"tag-uk","17":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115492482626944239","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548855","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548855"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548855\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548855"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548855"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548855"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/491402003_1244536274343444_6927578639982623441_n.jpg\")
Alicia Douglass (South Yorkshire Police)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1_Sheffield-Drop-Logo.jpg\"){kind=logo}
Subscribe to The Sheffield Drop for all things Sheffield<\/p>\n