Angel Lynn kidnapper's 'unduly lenient' sentence referred to Court of Appeal

21 February 2022, 17:07 | Updated: 21 February 2022, 19:44

The prison sentences handed to Angel Lynn's kidnappers have been referred to the Court of Appeal for being "unduly lenient".

Angel Lynn was left paralysed and unable to talk or feed herself after suffering "catastrophic" injuries during a kidnapping carried out by her boyfriend at the time, Chay Bowskill.

CCTV showed the moment he forcibly picked Miss Lynn up in the street and bundled her into the back of a van before she was found seriously injured on the A6 near Loughborough on September 17, 2020.

Bowskill, 20, was jailed for seven-and-a-half years after being found guilty for kidnapping, controlling and coercive behaviour and perverting the course of justice at Leicester Crown Court.

The prosecutor said Angel had been pushed out of the van, but the jury did not convict Bowskill of causing grievous bodily harm.

Whilst friend Rocco Sansome, the driver of the van, was found guilty of kidnap and was sentenced to 21 months in prison. 

Today, following calls from Angel's family, Solicitor General Alex Chalk QC MP, confirmed both sentences had been referred to the court of appeal for being "unduly lenient".

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CCTV shows kidnap of Angel Lynn

Mr Chalk said: "The horrendous case of Angel Lynn, who was the victim of sustained abuse by her partner, Chay Bowskill, culminated in her suffering life changing injuries.

"I wish to express my sympathies to her family. I have referred the sentence of Chay Bowskill, and that of his accomplice Rocco Sansome, to the Court of Appeal as they appear to me to be unduly lenient.

"It is now for the Court to decide whether to increase the sentence."

Last week Angel's family called for the pair's sentences to be doubled, with Ms Lynn's aunt, Jackie Chamberlain, telling LBC's Shelagh Fogarty her niece had "blossomed into a really beautiful girl".

She said the family has been informed that one of the offenders, Rocco Sansome, who was sentenced to 21 months for kidnapping, could be released in the next two months.

She described it as a "green light for people to say: 'I can get away with this'.

"She will never walk or talk again. She's had a massive brain surgery.

"She's no different to how she was on the very first day."

Angel has had her last rites read to her three times.

Around 16 months after the attack, Angel still cannot come home as the family need to have a hospital grade room, which Ms Chamberlain said is "unbelievably" expensive.

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Angel Lynn's family speak to LBC over her kidnapper's 'lenient sentence'

A GoFundMe has been launched by the family, and has so far raised more than £101,000.

According to Ms Chamberlain, it is not known if Angel is able to recognise her own parents."They're not even sure that she's aware of who they are."

She added: "A whole lifetime of dreams has been lost."

At the time the sentences were delivered Miss Lynn's father Paddy said in a statement: "Angel was so full of life and had such a great future ahead of her.  That future has sadly been taken away from her.

"The catastrophic injuries Angel suffered will mean life will never be the same for her or our family." 

He added: "We try to remain strong but we know that every day will be difficult and a struggle for us all, especially for Angel.  

"I know that Angel will never get married now and I will never get to walk my daughter down the aisle. Nikki and I will never be grandparents to Angel's children.

"We don't know what the future holds for our daughter but we try to put smiles on our faces each day, but inside our hearts are bleeding out."