What we know about 'BBL' death of Alice Webb

Police have arrested two people on suspicion of manslaughter after a 33-year-old woman died following a suspected cosmetic procedure believed to be a non-surgical Brazilian butt lift (BBL).

Mother of-five Alice Webb died on Tuesday at the Gloucestershire Royal Hospital after she became unwell after “suspected cosmetic procedure” in Gloucester, according to local police.

Webb's death is being investigated by Gloucestershire Police's major crime investigation team, while specially trained officers are supporting her family.

The two people arrested have been released on police bail.

What we know about Alice Webb’s death

Webb was rushed to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital on Monday and died in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

She became unwell following a “suspected cosmetic procedure”, Gloucestershire Police said. A spokesperson for the force said: “Police had been 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 the Wotton-under-Edge area of Gloucestershire with her family.

Her partner, Dane Knight, urged people to think of her daughters before speculating about her death.

In a Facebook appeal, Knight said: “Want to say a heartfelt thank you to all family and friends that were here for us at our time of need, including all of the kind messages sent to my children and myself.

“There was some very beautiful messages sent by some of your children that formed a start of a smile from the corner of my kids mouth.”

On speculation about her death, he added: “I [don't want] unnecessary questions raised to the five girls, so be extremely careful on what you say and who's around. Please have these five girls' feelings at 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 a cosmetic procedure performed by unqualified hands”.

Friends of Webb started a fundraising campaign for her family, but it has since been closed. The fundraising campaign said she had undergone a BBL procedure.

What is non-surgical BBL?

A non-surgical BBL involves fat being taken from a part of the body and injected into the buttocks. The desired effects by those choosing to undergo the procedure include making the buttocks bigger, more rounded or lifted.

It has been made popular by celebrities promoting curvier figures, according to BAAPS.

However, there is a risk that fat injected into large veins can travel to the heart or brain, leading to severe illness of death. The surgery has the highest death rate of all cosmetic surgery procedures, BAAPS said, at an estimated one-in-3,000 operations internationally.

Some patients travel to clinics in Turkey to have the procedure due to the lower costs. In the UK it can cost between £6,000 and £12,000 to have a BBL, according to BAAPS – compared to £3,500 and £5,000 in Turkey. Glamorous adverts and a beach setting are also thought to tempt people to have the procedure done outside of the UK.

What are the UK regulations on BBLs?

While the procedure is not illegal in the UK, it is unlicensed and unregulated. As a result, the competency of those carrying it out does not always meet acceptable safety standards.

The BAAPS says non-surgical BBLs “come with many risks and require the upmost care and expertise”, and that Webb’s death “highlights the critical importance of recognising that such procedures are medical in nature and must only be performed by properly trained professionals”.

It added: "Unfortunately, the non-surgical sector remains poorly regulated, underscoring the need for stricter oversight, which is very much a priority for BAAPS."

Safety concerns have led Wolverhampton City Council and five local authorities in Essex and Glasgow banning certain companies from carrying them out in their areas.

In May, a Glasgow-based firm, which has not been named, was served a ban after environmental health officers carried out an inspection and found there were insufficient measures in place to ensure client safety while undergoing BBLs.

Council officers found no evidence that sufficient safety measures were in place should a customer ever face an emergency, such as an infection, anaphylactic shock or an allergic reaction.

The company also failed to provide sufficient evidence to confirm the competency of those carrying out the procedure or that they were aware of the risks involved.

Last year, Wolverhampton Council banned Clinique Modele Aesthetics from carrying out non-surgical BBLs after a report found staff did not have sufficient training, skills or knowledge, putting the lives of patients at risk.

And just this week, Redbridge Council issued prohibition notices against an individual and associated companies based in Brentwood, Essex, known to have administered the procedure in an effort to reduce the risks and educate those seeking to pay for a BBL.

Campaigners have called for certain cosmetic procedures to be banned and said they were supporting 500 women who were “suffering” as a result.

“We launched a campaign in December 2023 calling upon the government to take urgent action to ban these procedures,” Ashton Collins, director of Save Face, said.

“We made it absolutely clear that without urgent intervention someone would die.”