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WARNING: CONTAINS REFERENCES TO DOMESTIC ABUSE AND VIOLENCE THAT SOME READERS MAY FIND DISTRESSING
The mother of Angel Lynn, the teenager who was left unable to speak or walk after being kidnapped by her abusive former partner, has said she fell on the floor after seeing her daughter’s devastating injuries for the first time.
Angel’s story is being shared in the new Channel 4 documentary, The Kidnap of Angel Lynn, which airs this evening (Tuesday 9 May) at 9pm.
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The hour-long film follows what happened to Angel when she suffered severe injuries while trying to escape her abusive ex-boyfriend Chay Bowskill in 2020.
Aged just 19 at the time, she was bundled into a van by Chay before being ejected onto the road while the vehicle was travelling at over 60mph.
Amazingly, she survived – but not without suffering life-changing injuries.
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Angel, who is now 21, remains paralysed and unable to communicate, with doctors saying the extent of a fracture on her skull was so severe that she could have easily died.
Recalling the moment she was taken in to see her in the intensive care unit, mum Nikki, 48, said in the new documentary: "When they opened the curtain to let me in, I just fell on the floor.”
Angel’s dad Paddy added: “Her head was all swollen and she was on all different machines. It was horrible.”
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Stuart Smith, Consultant Neurosurgeon at Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, said it was very clear Angel had suffered ‘very severe injuries’ as soon as she came into hospital.
A CT scan showed she had a fracture on her skull that continued across her head, which Smith said will have been the result of ‘a really incredible degree of force’.
“Her injury was so devastating and so severe that there was a very real chance that Angel wouldn’t survive,” he explained.
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According to the documentary, one in three women experience domestic abuse globally.
Angel’s former partner Chay was tried for causing grievous bodily harm with intent for pushing her out of the van, but was acquitted.
However, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison after being convicted of kidnapping, engaging in coercive and controlling behaviour and perverting the course of justice.
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The film sees family members and friends share horrific details of Chay’s abusive and controlling nature, and the warning signs that they had noticed from Angel.
While her friend Sheryl said she had seen ‘alarming’ messages from Chay, calling Angel a ‘s**g’ and a ‘tramp’, cousin Fahren had noticed even more subtle signs that something was not right.
“She knew that I wasn’t happy with the whole relationship,” she said, adding: “I could tell that she’d changed. She’d never post on Instagram, wear nice clothes – which wasn’t like Angel, because she always used to want to look nice.”
Nikki said she finds it ‘really difficult’ knowing that they might be in a different position if they had known for sure what was happening to Angel.
Sheryl agreed: “You know when you know something is wrong, but you haven’t done anything about it, and you should have done and you could have done? That’s the hardest one for all of us.”
The Kidnap of Angel Lynn airs on Channel 4 at 9pm on Tuesday 9 May, and will be available to watch on All4.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, call Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247 or visit their website here. In an emergency always dial 999.
Topics: TV And Film, Documentaries, UK News, Domestic Abuse
Jess Hardiman