Stacey Hyde, who later changed her name to Anastasia Darlison, had her murder conviction overturned after five long years behind bars — but her struggles didn’t end when the prison doors opened. An inquest into her death has now revealed just how much she endured before her body finally gave out earlier this year.
At just 17, Stacey was jailed for killing her friend’s boyfriend. But after years of campaigning by Justice for Women, she was granted a retrial and cleared after convincing a jury she had acted in self-defence. She walked free — but as her family would later say, she never really escaped, reported Devon Live.
The inquest, held in Truro, heard how Stacey tried to rebuild her life in Cornwall, moving from St Austell to Mullion. But freedom didn’t bring peace. Haunted by trauma and abuse, she turned to alcohol and drugs, sometimes even being injected by others. Diagnosed with PTSD while in prison, she also suffered from bulimia, hepatitis C, kidney problems, and struggled with severe alcohol dependency.
Her aunt, Julie Hyde, read a statement in court on behalf of herself and Stacey’s mum, Diane. “After a campaign for her release, she appealed and was found not guilty of murder due to self-defence… She didn’t cope well after her release and turned to a life of prostitution, self-harm, drugs, and alcohol,” she said. “She was the sweetest, kindest, most generous, and funniest person I knew. Stacey didn’t want to die. She just didn’t know how to live.”
Julie shared how Stacey had plans to visit her in Greece later this year, to travel, and even write a book. It wasn’t a life without hope — she was still looking ahead.
But her body had been through too much. The inquest heard Stacey had been admitted to hospital 11 times in the year before her death due to complications from bulimia, and had suffered two cardiac arrests. On 11 April 2024, after days of vomiting and being unable to keep anything down, she was taken to the Royal Cornwall Hospital. Just hours later, she was found unresponsive. Despite 30 minutes of CPR, doctors couldn’t save her.
The cause of death was confirmed as bulimia nervosa, and the coroner ruled it a death from natural causes. He acknowledged Stacey’s painful journey, saying, “She didn’t cope well after being released and fell in with the wrong crowd… Alcohol or drugs were not responsible for her death, neither was suicide.”
It was a tragic ending for someone who had survived so much — and who, deep down, still held onto dreams of a better life.
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