The attorney general is reviewing the sentence given to a man whose then girlfriend was left with catastrophic brain injuries when she fell out of a van travelling at 60mph after he kidnapped her.
Angel Lynn, 19, has been left unable to walk or talk after she sustained a fractured skull and brain injuries when she fell from the vehicle on to a dual carriageway near Loughborough in September 2020.
Her then boyfriend, Chay Bowskill, 20, was sentenced to seven and a half years at a young offender institution on Wednesday after being found guilty of kidnapping, and coercive and controlling behaviour.
He was also convicted of perverting the course of justice after he put pressure on his mother to withdraw her police statement.
The attorney general, Suella Braverman, has received a complaint that the sentence is unduly lenient and will now examine the case before deciding whether to refer it to the court of appeal, which would then decide if it should be increased.
CCTV footage played to jurors at Leicester crown court showed Bowskill grabbing Lynn as she walked away from him after an argument and bundling her into a silver Transit van that was being driven by his friend Rocco Sansome, 20.
Bowskill was cleared of causing grievous bodily harm as the defence claimed Lynn jumped or accidentally fell on to the road, and the prosecution failed to prove she was pushed or thrown.
During sentencing, the judge Timothy Spencer QC said Lynn “was belittled by [Bowskill] to a point she must have felt, on a regular basis, worthless”.
“You bombarded her with repulsive, degrading messages, sometimes within a timespan of a few hours. You controlled her freedom of movement by a variety of means and she was not allowed any sort of life apart from you,” he said.
The judge said she “would not have suffered those devastating injuries” had he not kidnapped her.
Sansome was also found guilty of kidnap and sentenced to 21 months in a young offender institution. He was disqualified from driving for 12 months after he was found to have been over the drug-drive limit at the time of the offence.
Police said Lynn was found lying seriously injured in the carriageway of the A6 near Loughborough, and remained in hospital requiring round-the-clock care for her injuries.
Her father, Paddy Lynn, said in a statement on behalf of the family that their lives “have been changed beyond recognition for ever”.
He said: “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.
“Every day is not only a huge struggle for Angel but also a huge struggle for our family and friends. We are lucky in some ways as we are a close family, we have lots of lovely friends who help us and people that care in other ways.
“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.”
DCI Tony Yarwood, the senior investigating officer in the case, said: “Because of the extent of her injuries she now faces constant medical treatment and round-the-clock care. No verdict or subsequent sentence can make up for the quality of life this young woman has lost.”
