Sophie Moss death: Attorney General says sentence too lenient

Sophie Moss's brother said she had been "taken advantage of and exploited"

The sentence given to a man who choked a woman to death during sex was unduly lenient, the Attorney General has said.

Sam Pybus, 32, was jailed for four years and eight months after admitting the manslaughter of Sophie Moss, 33, at her home in Darlington on 7 February.

MP Harriet Harman had asked for the sentence to be reviewed saying it "did not reflect the gravity of the crime".

The Attorney General said the Court of Appeal would now decide whether to increase the sentence.

A spokesperson said: "I can confirm that the Attorney General has referred Sam Pybus' sentence to the Court of Appeal as she agrees that it appears unduly lenient.

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

MP Harriet Harman had asked the Attorney General to review the sentence under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme.

Ms Harman said Pybus' "disgraceful mitigation" that Ms Moss, a mother of two young boys, encouraged strangulation during sex made it sound as if it was "her fault".

Pybus had drunk 24 bottles of lager before he visited Sophie Moss, Teesside Crown Court heard

Pybus, who was married, had been seeing Ms Moss for sex about six times a year for three years without his wife's knowledge, Teesside Crown Court previously heard.

On 6 February he had drunk 24 bottles of Amstel lager over 10 hours, and drove to Ms Moss's flat after his wife went to bed.

The following morning he drove to Darlington police station and told staff he believed he had strangled Ms Moss.

In a victim statement Ms Moss's brother said she had been "taken advantage of and exploited".