Angel Lynn: Kidnapped woman's family 'elated' at longer sentence

The family of a woman left with serious injuries after being kidnapped by her ex-boyfriend have said they are "elated" by his sentence increase.

Angel Lynn was bundled into a van by Chay Bowskill before she was found on the A6 in Leicestershire in 2020.

Bowskill's term of seven and a half years in a young offender institution was raised to 12 years after a review.

Angel Lynn's aunt, Jackie Chamberlain, said the ruling was "more than we could ever hope for".

Mrs Chamberlain said the family was crying with relief at the judgement

Mrs Chamberlain told BBC Breakfast: "We are elated, that's the only word I can use.

"We were stunned, we weren't sure what we were going to get in court yesterday.

"I had lost my faith in the British judicial system completely but gosh, yesterday, we were crying, we had our hands over our faces, [everyone] was crying.

"It was more than we could ever hope for".

'Pattern of abuse'

The original trial at Leicester Crown Court heard Bowskill, of Empingham Drive, Syston, kidnapped Miss Lynn following an argument on 17 September 2020.

CCTV footage showed him lifting her up and carrying her across a road before putting her in the van.

Both were 19 at the time and had been in a relationship for about a year.

Bowskill was previously sentenced to three years and three months for kidnap, two years for coercive and controlling behaviour, and two years and three months for perverting the course of justice - after he put pressure on his mother to withdraw her police statement.

On Wednesday, Court of Appeal judges said the kidnap had been the "culmination of a pattern of abuse at the hands of Bowskill".

Mrs Chamberlain (second from right) said the family could now "move on" and concentrate on bringing Angel home

They decided his original sentence had "failed to reflect the seriousness" of the kidnap offence, and too much of a discount had been given to the sentence because of his age.

His sentence for kidnap was changed to 12 years, but the sentences for the other charges are now concurrent, meaning they all run at the same time.

Rocco Sansome, of Wanlip Lane, Birstall, who was driving the van, had previously been sentenced to 21 months in a young offender institution and his sentence remains unchanged.

Miss Lynn requires 24-hour care but has shown some signs of improvement

Mrs Chamberlain thanked the public for their financial and moral support but also confirmed strangers had set the appeal process going.

"We initially didn't know who put the appeal in, and we weren't allowed to know," she said.

"We were going to do it ourselves but were told it had already been done.

"But after the court case finished yesterday [the legal team] said 'the British public appealed this, a lot of people wrote to the Attorney General and said this is no good'."

The family said they never wanted to speak of Bowskill again

Farah Nazeer, chief executive of Women's Aid, said: "We were really proud to support Jackie and Angel's family in court yesterday and we were pleased to welcome a much better sentence, that better reflects the crime committed.

"What's a real shame is that Jackie and her family had to go through a second hearing and wait a lot longer for justice."

Mrs Chamberlain said the family's focus had now shifted to helping Angel, whose injuries mean she needs 24-hour care.

"We want to put everything behind us, we want to move on," she said.

"That may sound odd but we want to never speak of [the culprits] again and we want to put our energies into getting her home.

"She has made some very small but significant improvements in the last few weeks."