THE Court of Appeal has declined to increase the sentence of Sam Pybus, who was jailed for four years and eight months for choking his lover to death during sex finding his sentence was not “unduly lenient”.

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

The length of his sentence caused a public outcry and Labour MP Harriet Harman asked for the sentence to be reviewed saying it "did not reflect the gravity of the crime".

The sentencing judge accepted the married defendant did not intend to kill the 33-year-old and his remorse was genuine, giving him a sentence of four years and eight months in prison.

Read more: Darlington killer Sam Pybus to discover fate on sentence as appeal date set

At the Court of Appeal today (Friday), three judges rejected a bid by Attorney General Suella Braverman to increase Pybus’s sentence.

Ms Braverman told the Court of Appeal that the mother-of-two could not consent to any act after she became unconscious, and that the risk should have been “obvious” to Pybus.

The Attorney General said: “Sophie Moss could not, and did not, consent to being strangled beyond the point of unconsciousness.”

She argued that any consent the 33-year-old gave was “limited” to the restriction of her breathing to increase her pleasure during sex.

“Indeed, once unconscious, she was no longer capable of consenting to anything at all,” Ms Braverman said.

She continued: “In order for Sophie Moss to have died at the hands of the offender, it was necessary for him to strangle her to the point of unconsciousness and beyond.

“To compress her neck for long enough that injury was caused and to leave her in a state in which she was unable to do or say anything to prevent further harm from coming to her.”

The Attorney General continued: “It may well have been seconds, it may well have been minutes, but it was still strong enough to kill her.
“She would no longer have been an active participant in the act the offender claims she was enjoying.”

Sam Green QC, for Pybus, said there was no evidence about how long he had strangled Ms Moss, calling the Attorney General’s argument “speculation”.

He said: “There must have been some point between unconsciousness and death. What we don’t know, on the evidence, was whether the manual pressure to the neck continued after unconsciousness.

“We don’t know if it even occurred up to the point of unconsciousness, we don’t know when unconsciousness occurred.”

Lady Justice Macur, sitting with Lady Justice Carr and Mr Justice Murray, said “Bearing all the circumstances of this case in mind, we are not persuaded that the judge was wrong in categorisation, was wrong in the uplift he applied… or was wrong in the element of discount that he gave for mitigation and then for his plea of guilty.”

After the ruling, Ms Braverman said: “There cannot be any guarantees with how a court will decide any matter, and I referred the sentence to the Court of Appeal because I considered it to be too low.

“The Court of Appeal decided otherwise, I’m disappointed with the outcome but I respect the judgment and I’m grateful to the courts for considering the matter in some detail.

“It’s undeniable that this was a tragic case, a disturbing sequence of events in which Sophie Moss lost her life at the hands of the offender.

“This government is committed to supporting women and girls through the criminal justice system and preventing them from suffering in broader criminal matters.

“We’re here to support victims and that’s our priority.”

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