'Lip King carried out BBL before woman's death' - lawyer

A man known as the British Lip King carried out a Brazilian butt lift (BBL) on a mother-of-five hours before her death, her family's lawyer told a pre-inquest review.

Alice Webb, 33, from Wotton-under-Edge, became unwell and later died in hospital after undergoing the cosmetic treatment at a salon in Gloucester in September 2024.

Jordan Parke, dubbed the British Lip King, died in February, which is believed to have happened after a cosmetic procedure.

Gloucestershire's senior coroner said Webb's inquest would likely take place in front of a jury in autumn.

Laura Collignon, who represented Webb's family, told Monday's hearing that Parke had carried out the BBL on Webb before her death while she was being trained to complete cosmetic procedures.

Collignon submitted to the coroner that the inquest should take place in front of a jury because Webb's death was workplace-related.

She told the court Alice had engaged in some training before she undertook cosmetic procedures herself.

"She was not only there having a procedure, she was being trained in a procedure, and that seems to me to be a workplace matter, and therefore a workplace fatality," she added.

Senior coroner Katy Skerrett said: "My initial view is that Alice was a self-employed practitioner and she was being shown how to do a procedure at a friend's house.

"I think you could probably argue it either way. I'm content that it should be in front of a jury."

She also said the inquest would hear evidence from police, a pathologist, salon owner Jemma Pawlyszyn and another unidentified person who was present before Webb fell ill.

Collignon added there was two women initially there on the night, but one of them has not been identified.

"We don't know at what point she [the unidentified woman] left the premises.

"It seems to me that it is relevant given that Mr Parke then performed the same procedure on Alice, as far as we know," she told the hearing.

BBL is a treatment designed to make buttocks bigger, more rounded or lifted. It can be offered as a surgical or non-surgical procedure.

Surgical BBLs involve inserting silicone-filled implants and/or removing fat from other parts of the body before injecting it into the buttocks.

Non-surgical BBLs - like the one Webb is believed to have had - involves injecting dermal filler into the buttocks.

Following Webb's death, campaigners have called for regulation of the beauty industry and for certain cosmetic procedures to be banned.

The government has announced proposals to ensure BBLs, and other high-risk procedures are only performed by specified health workers.

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