Man left partner's body lying in bed for days as he thought she was asleep

A coroner’s inquest heard that Matthew Burgess left his partner Lyudmila Skotcher’s body in bed for days because he believed she was asleep. The 45-year-old was last seen on Oct 12 in Norwich, after he and Skotcher—who had been in a relationship for 18 months—bought alcohol and returned to her home. When emergency services were called four days later, medics concluded she had been dead for several days. Burgess told police she became unwell and he thought she had passed out after drinking a substantial amount of vodka, covering her with a blanket and leaving. Initially treated as suspicious due to bruising and Burgess struggling to recall Skotcher’s name, a post-mortem ruled out third-party involvement. The assistant coroner said her alcohol intoxication was more than four times the legal drink-drive limit.