My daughter Angel Lynn was paralysed & unable to speak after being kidnapped by ex – now she’s uttered her first word
THE mum of a girl left brain damaged by her thug ex in a horror kidnapping today revealed she has spoken her first word.
Angel Lynn, then 19, fell from a van at 60mph after being snatched by Chay Bowskill, who was filmed grabbing her “like a rag doll”.
She now requires 24-hour care and was left unable to communicate, walk or feed herself.
Her mum Nikki Lynn told Good Morning Britain how she feared her daughter would never be able to speak again following the horror in September 2020.
But brave Angel suddenly managed to say the word “mum” after three years of silence, with Nikki managing to capture the moving moment on video.
Nikki said: “She said it the first time and I just couldn’t believe it. I thought I’ve got to get it on camera, because sometimes she doesn’t always do things a second time.
“I asked her to do it again and she did it straight away.”
The mum explained how Angel was “groaning” in hospital so Nikki told her she must be able to “say something”.
She added: “That’s when I started making sounds myself and it just came out.
“I had no warning or anything […] because I thought she’d never speak again. You don’t like to get your hopes up.”
Chilling footage showed Bowskill chase down Angel, now 22, after she walked away during an argument.
He then grabbed her from behind in a bear hug and bundled her into his van.
As it travelled along the road at 60mph, Angel fell out of the vehicle.
She was discovered lying in the carriageway of the A6 near Loughborough, Leics, on September 27, 2020, with catastrophic injuries.
Angel, who suffered a fractured skull and brain injuries, may never make a full recovery.
Bowskill was originally jailed for a total of seven and a half years – but would have served just half that sentence behind bars.
His sentence was more than doubled in March last year to 16 years and three months by Court of Appeal judges.
Angel’s family, who were forced to to adapt their home so she can move back in, had backed calls for the case to be sent to the top court.
Bowskill, 20, and his friend Rocco Sansome, 20, both denied kidnap but were found guilty following a trial.
He was also convicted of coercive and controlling behaviour and perverting the course of justice – but was cleared of causing grievous bodily harm.
How you can get help
Women's Aid has this advice for victims and their families:
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Familiarise yourself with the Silent Solution, reporting abuse without speaking down the phone, instead dialing “55”.
- Always keep some money on you, including change for a pay phone or bus fare.
- If you suspect your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a lower-risk area of the house – for example, where there is a way out and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where there are likely to be knives or other weapons. Avoid rooms where you might become trapped, such as the bathroom, or where you might be shut into a cupboard or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, SupportLine is open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during the crisis – messageinfo@supportline.org.uk.
Women’s Aid provides a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am-6pm and weekends 10am-6pm.
You can also call the freephone 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.