Blackpool man jailed for life for murder of Allison Dodds

The family of Allison Dodds have described her as a ‘beautiful lost soul’ after a man was jailed for life for her murder.

Alexander Hindley, 35, pleaded guilty in February to murdering Allison at his flat in Redcar Road, Blackpool. 

Police were called shortly before 11am on 21st September 2023 to the flat after Allison’s body was found under a pile of blankets and duvets inside the address.

 A Home Office postmortem examination showed the 51-year-old died from multiple serious injuries which she had suffered in a violent and sustained assault at the hands of Hindley.

Following a manhunt Hindley was arrested on suspicion of Allison’s murder four days later.

Hindley was today (Wednesday, March 27) at Preston Crown Court sentenced to life imprisonment. He was told he will serve a minimum term of 16 years and eight months before he is eligible to apply for parole.

In a victim personal statement Allison’s family said:” Allison battled for years in the awful world of addiction, but she had decided she wanted to live in peace and sobriety and worked hard to get into rehab, she was due to go there that Monday after she was killed.

‘’She has now been cheated of that opportunity, the chance of her ever being in sobriety has been taken away - she will now never get the chance to feel freedom away from addiction.

“Allison was the light of our family, a wonderful big sister. She had the ability to light up a room when she walked in. She was chaotic and hard work at times but even in her deepest addiction she stayed true to herself, to our family, to her morals, she would have done anything for anyone.

“She always had a smile on her face, despite what she was going through. The number of people who did attend her funeral shows how much she was thought of in the community. Allison was just a beautiful lost soul; she will be sadly missed.”

Detective Chief Insp Jane Webb said: “First and foremost my thoughts today are with Allison’s family who lost their loved one in horrific circumstances. Allison was subjected to a sustained and extremely violent assault at the hands of Hindley, an assault which caused the injuries which led to her death.

“Hindley is clearly a very violent man and I welcome the sentence today which I hope gives Allison’s family the sense that some justice has been achieved.”