Overview

• Judge Anna Richardson described the case as tragic when imposing a 14-month custodial sentence on Stevens at Exeter Crown Court.
• Police discovered skeletal remains under a blanket on a sofa in May 2025 after gaining entry to his cluttered Torquay flat.
• Anouska Sites, who had documented mental health and addiction vulnerabilities, was last seen by officers in May 2022 and reported missing in April 2023.
• Defence counsel characterised Stevens’s failure to report the death as a “passive failure” driven by panic rather than intent to harm.
• Detective Inspector Jeanne Hellyer welcomed the sentence and underscored that Sites was denied the right to a lawful burial.