Sophie Moss death: Sam Pybus jailed for strangling mum of two

A man who choked a woman to death during sex after he had drunk 24 bottles of lager has been jailed for four years and eight months.

Sophie Moss, 33, was found unconscious at home in Darlington, County Durham, on 7 February and died in hospital.

Sam Pybus - who was married but had been seeing Ms Moss for three years - told police he could not remember what happened, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The 32-year-old had previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

In sentencing, Judge Paul Watson QC said he accepted Pybus, of Water View, Middleton St George, Darlington, did not intend to kill and his remorse was genuine.

Mother-of-two Ms Moss had physical and mental health issues, lived alone and had a history of alcohol misuse, the court was told.

In a victim statement her brother, James Moss, said: "We will never be able to shake the belief that whatever the nature of their relationship, and her role in it, that she was a victim, taken advantage of and exploited, and was subjected to an entirely avoidable and infinitely tragic end.

"Somehow we must come to terms with never knowing the full circumstances."

Mr Moss described his sister as "joyous, vibrant, funny, talented and fearless, unless she saw a spider."

He recalled receiving a call from their mother to say the "worst possible thing had happened" and he cried inconsolably.

Daniel Parkington, the father of her boys who are five and six, said: "They have been given a life sentence. It's not fair and it never will be."

Pybus was originally charged with murder but the court heard a Home Office pathologist found that the amount of pressure applied to Ms Moss's neck was towards the lower end of cases which resulted in death.

There was no sign of any other violence used or evidence of a fight, the hearing was told.

Pybus had been seeing Ms Moss for sex about six times a year for three years without his wife's knowledge, the court 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.

At 04:43 GMT the following morning he drove to Darlington police station and told staff he believed he had strangled Ms Moss.

He said that during sex he would apply pressure to her neck, "an act he said she encouraged", but added he would never hurt her, Mr Wright said.

However, Pybus could only remember waking up in his boxer shorts and finding Ms Moss unconscious.

Instead of giving Ms Moss first aid, he went to his car and thought about what to do for 15 minutes before driving to the police station, the court was told.

Detectives found no evidence of an argument or any reason for Pybus to harm Ms Moss, the prosecution said.

The claim she encouraged strangulation during sex was confirmed by her long-term partner, the court heard.

The judge told Pybus: "This was a case in which you were voluntarily intoxicated, unable to judge the situation and perhaps to have stopped when it was obvious that you had gone too far.

"It was obviously dangerous conduct, whether consensual or otherwise.

"Dangerous in the sense that any compression of the neck creates an obvious risk of brain damage or worse as this case so tragically demonstrates."

Pybus' sentence was heavily criticised for sending a "dreadful message to women" by We Can't Consent To This, a campaign group set up in response to so-called "consensual" violence claims against women.

Spokeswoman Fiona Mackenzie said: "It seems that strangling a woman to death is still viewed in law as an unfortunate accident, rather than terrible serious violence.

"This sends a dreadful message to women - four years and eight months is an outrageous sentence."

Ms Mackenzie said strangulation was recently made a "specific offence" and the government was "clear that claims of rough sex must not be used by perpetrators to evade justice".

"We don't think this is how the law should work - and look to the government now to see what they intend to do," she said.

After the hearing, Christopher Atkinson, of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) North East, explained why Pybus was not prosecuted for murder.

He said the CPS had "proactively determined that there was insufficient evidence capable of establishing beyond reasonable doubt that he [Pybus] intended the serious harm or death of Sophie Moss".

Mr Atkinson added: "In cases where death is caused by an unlawful act, but such intent cannot be proven, the appropriate charge to bring is one of manslaughter, for which we have built a robust case against the defendant."

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