Police have arrested two people on suspicion of murder after a 33-year-old woman died following a suspicious cosmetic procedure believed to be a non-surgical Brazilian butt lift (BBL).
Mother-of-five Alice Webb died on Tuesday at Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary after falling ill following “suspicious cosmetic surgery” in Gloucester, local police said.
Webb’s death is being investigated by Gloucestershire Police’s Major Crime Squad, while specially trained officers are supporting her family.
The two arrested were released on police bail.
What we know about Alice Webb’s death
Webb was rushed to Gloucestershire Royal Infirmary on Monday and died in the early hours of Tuesday.
She became unwell after a “suspected cosmetic procedure”, Gloucestershire Police said. A spokesman for the force said: “Police were called by the ambulance service at around 11.35pm.”
Webb is believed to have undergone a non-surgical Brazilian butt lift, or BBL. She worked in the beauty industry and lived in Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire with her family.
Her partner, Dane Knight, urged people to think of her daughters before speculating about her death.
In an appeal on Facebook, Knight said: “I want to say a sincere thank you to all the family and friends who have been there for us in our time of need, including all the kind messages sent to my children and me.
“There were some really lovely messages sent by some of your children that brought a smile to the corner of my childhood mouth.”
Speculating on her death, he added: “I [don’t want] The five girls were asked unnecessary questions, so be extremely careful about what you say and who is around. Please take the feelings of these five girls to heart.”
Nora Nugent, vice-president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), told Yahoo News UK that she was “deeply saddened to hear of another tragic loss of life due to cosmetic surgery carried out by unskilled hands”.
Friends of Webb started a fundraising campaign for her family, but it has since closed. The fundraising campaign said it had undergone a BBL process.
What is non-surgical BBL?
A non-surgical BBL involves taking fat from one part of the body and injecting it into the buttocks. Desired results from those who choose to undergo the procedure include making the buttocks bigger, rounder or lifted.
It has been popularized by celebrities who promote curvaceous figures, according to BAAPS.
However, there is a risk that fat injected into large veins can travel to the heart or brain, leading to serious illness and death. The surgery has the highest mortality rate of all cosmetic surgery procedures, according to the BAAPS, with an estimated one in 3,000 procedures worldwide.
Some patients travel to clinics in Turkey to have the procedure done because of the lower cost. In the UK it can cost between £6,000 and £12,000 to own a BBL, according to BAAPS – compared to £3,500 and £5,000 in Turkey. The glitzy adverts and beach setting are also believed to be luring people to have the procedure done outside the UK.
What are the UK regulations for BBLs?
Although the process is not illegal in the UK, it is unlicensed and unregulated. As a result, the skill of those performing it does not always meet acceptable safety standards.
The BAAPS says non-surgical BBLs “come with many risks and require the utmost care and expertise” and that Webb’s death “highlights the critical importance of recognizing that such procedures are medical in nature and should only be performed by appropriately trained professionals.” .
He adds: “Unfortunately, the non-surgical sector remains poorly regulated, highlighting the need for tighter oversight, which is very much a priority for BAAPS.”
Safety concerns have led Wolverhampton City Council and five local authorities in Essex and Glasgow to ban some companies from holding them in their areas.
In May, a Glasgow-based firm, which has not been named, was banned after an Environmental Health Service inspection found there were insufficient measures in place to ensure the safety of customers while undergoing BBL.
Council officers found no evidence that adequate safety measures were in place should a customer experience an emergency such as infection, anaphylactic shock or an allergic reaction.
The company also did not provide sufficient evidence to confirm the competence of those performing the procedure or that they were aware of the risks involved.
Last year, Wolverhampton Council has banned Clinique Modele Aesthetics from performing non-surgical BBLs after a report found that staff lacked sufficient training, skills or knowledge, putting patients’ lives at risk.
And just this week, Redbridge Council issued prohibition notices against an individual and associated companies based in Brentwood, Essex, known to have conducted the process in an attempt to reduce risks and educate those willing to pay for a BBL.
Campaigners have called for certain cosmetic procedures to be banned and said they support 500 women who have “suffered” as a result.
“We launched a campaign in December 2023 calling on the government to take urgent action to ban these procedures,” said Ashton Collins, director of Save Face.
“We made it absolutely clear that without urgent intervention someone was going to die.”
