Sophie Moss death: Appeal to raise Sam Pybus' sentence refused

A man jailed for choking a woman to death during sex will not have his prison sentence increased, the Court of Appeal has ruled.

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.

Attorney General Suella Braverman said the sentence was unduly lenient and referred it to the Court of Appeal.

But three judges declined to increase the sentence.

Teesside Crown Court heard Pybus, from Newton Aycliffe, had been drunk when he applied pressure to Ms Moss' neck.

Pybus, who was married, had told police he and Ms Moss had been in a casual relationship for three years and that she encouraged him to strangle her during consensual sex.

In September when he was sentenced, Judge Paul Watson QC reduced the length from seven years after giving credit for his early guilty plea.

The Crown Prosecution Service said there had not been sufficient evidence to support a charge of murder as there was nothing to suggest Pybus intended to kill her or cause serious harm.

At the Court of Appeal 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."

A statement from the Attorney General, Suella Braverman QC, said: "I referred the offender's sentence to the Court of Appeal because I considered it to be too low.

"This was a truly disturbing case, and I still believe it was right to test the sentence but I respect the Court's judgment.

Pybus' ex-wife, Louise Hewitt, said the sentence "places the responsibility on Sophie which, to me, is victim blaming".

It sent out "a really clear message to men and women that the rough sex defence is valid and works, even though the Domestic Abuse Act was supposed to abolish it", she said.

The 29-year-old teacher said she had seen TikTok videos in which teenage boys boasted about choking during sex, with young girls commenting they want it done to them too.

"If this becomes more normalised they are going to think this is the right way to have sex, and that is problematic," she said.

Pybus appeared via videolink from Holme House prison for the two-hour hearing.

Ms Braverman QC told the hearing mother-of-two Ms Moss could not consent to any act after she became unconscious, and that the risk should have been "obvious" to Pybus.

She said: "Sophie Moss could not, and did not, consent to being strangled beyond the point of unconsciousness."

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 Can't Consent To This, a campaign group set up in response to so-called "consensual" violence claims against women, said Ms Moss deserved better justice.

Spokeswoman Fiona Mackenzie said: "We were horrified to see the court accept Pybus' claim that Sophie had consented, and was a willing participant, in what Lady Macur called a 'risky sexual practice'.

"This is despite this never being tested in court and despite this being strongly refuted by Sophie's former long-term partner and by Sam Pybus' ex-wife.

"Sophie Moss deserves better and Parliament must return to this."

Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to northeastandcumbria@bbc.co.uk.