A MAN who lived with the dead body of his former partner for over two years has been jailed for preventing the lawful burial of her body.

Jamie Stevens, 51, covered the body of Anouska Sites with a blanket at his home in Upton Road, Torquay, after she died there.

Stevens, now of Reddenhill Road, previously appeared at Exeter Crown Court on Tuesday 15 July where he pleaded guilty to preventing the lawful burial of a dead body and committing a series of actions with intent to pervert the course of justice.

He was remanded in custody and appeared at court today, 11 August, where he was sentenced by HHJ Judge Richardson to a total of 14 months in prison.

Anouska, who would now be 36, was reported missing to police on 10 April 2025 and officers carried out initial enquiries which confirmed the last known sighting of her was on 21 May 2022.

The investigation led officers to speak to Jamie Stevens, her former partner, and he confirmed that he had not seen Anouska since February or March 2022 – signing a witness statement to this effect.

Enquiries progressed with officers visiting the flat on Upton Road, the last known address of both Stevens and Anouska, but there was no reply on a number of occasions.

Officers spoke to Stevens again, and he told them he had recently moved out of the property.

Detectives gained entry to the flat on 27 May 2025 where they carried out a search and located the body of a woman, which has since been confirmed to be Anouska Sites.

Stevens was arrested following the discovery and in interview he told officers that around January 2023, Anouska went to stay with him for the night in the Upton Road flat.

He went out the following day and when he returned, he found her deceased.

He covered her body with a blanket and left her in place.

Stevens told officers that he knew what he should have done and that looking back, he doesn’t know why he didn’t call emergency services.

He admitted that he knew the explanation didn’t ‘sound right’.

He also admitted he had made a false statement to police regarding when they had last had contact.

Officers charged and remanded Stevens in custody. Appearing at Exeter Crown Court today he was sentenced for the following offences:

Anouska’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’.