Livingston woman Jamielee Fielding desperate for answers about mum Sharon’s mysterious death

Jamielee Fielding is trying to raise funds to hire a private investigator to look into what she believes to be mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of her mum Sharon, 50, who ran the Gentleman Jack’s food stall in Edinburgh’s Princes Street for 10 years.

The 31-year-old was left heartbroken on September 16 when she received a call from Spanish authorities informing her that her mother – who she said was her “best pal in the world” – had died, just days before she was due to fly home to Scotland.

“It was the most awful thing I can imagine ever experiencing. I can’t describe what I felt in that moment,” she said.

“I was told on the phone that mum had fallen on the street and then died from a head injury on the way to hospital.”

But days later when Jamielee landed in Merja, near Malaga, she discovered that the death certificate had recorded pulmonary oedema – fluid in the lungs’ air sacs – as the cause of death.

“I just thought that can’t be right. I was told in specific detail what happened to her and this was a completely different story,” said Jamielee, who has a 26-year-old brother Jordan.

“The funeral directors over there told me that story can’t have been right but didn’t explain where this new story had come from.

“When I went later that day to identify my mum’s body, I wasn’t prepared for seeing anything as I thought it was all internal. I wasn’t expecting anything gory but the first thing I saw was that the left hand side of her head was all caved and dented in.”

And a visit to the spot where her mother’s body was found, beside a busy Spanish motorway, left her with more questions.

“We drove from her apartment to the spot because I wanted to lay flowers for her,” said Jamielee.

“I thought it was really strange because it seemed to be a very long way away. It was at least a 20 minute drive and we couldn’t even stop at the spot. We had to park in a layby and walk.

“I can’t understand what she would be doing away up there. She doesn’t drive or anything so I can’t make sense of why she’d be walking beside a busy motorway.”

Jamielee reported her suspicions to the Procurator Fiscal in Scotland in the hope that police here would be able to shed some light on how Sharon, whose funeral was held last week, died.

But an autopsy carried out in Scotland came back with the same cause of death and explained that the issues with her head may have resulted from the initial post mortem.

“I don’t know what to believe. It just doesn’t seem possible and I don’t understand at all,” she said.

“They’ve closed the case but I just can’t believe that no one else finds it suspicious.”

Jamielee has now launched a GoFundMe page, all donations to which will go towards paying for a private investigator. And for a detective to go to Spain for just three days, she has been quoted £8,400.

“I just need some answers about what happened to my mum because I’ll never be able to rest until I know,” she said.

“She was the best mum I could ever ask for and my best pal in the world. She was the nicest person and she was the most caring, genuine, generous person.

“She would do anything for anyone. She was my idol and I am determined to find answers for her as well as myself.”

If you haven’t already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.