The story of Loughborough’s Angel Lynn, a young woman who suffered severe life-changing injuries whilst trying to escape an abusive relationship, is to be made into a Channel 4 documentary.
21-year-old Angel suffered severe brain damage as a result of the incident, which saw her bundled into a van by Chay Bowskill in September 2020.
Producers Wonderhood Studios said they were seeking to give victims of coercive control a voice.
The programme uses text messages, social media posts, photos and ‘phone calls between Angel and her abusive boyfriend, to reveal how a loving daughter became trapped in an abusive relationship, resulting in her nearly dying after she was kidnapped.
The programme is due to air later this spring, and has exclusive access to Angel’s parents Nikki and Paddy, together with other members of her family and closest friends from school and work.
It follows her rehabilitation and gradual recovery from the serious injuries she suffered as a result of falling from a van at high speed, as her family hopes she may be able to remember and communicate the details about the events leading up to her injuries.
Before the incident, Angel Lynn had ambitions to become a forensic scientist.
Always close to her parents and friends, her life is said to have changed forever when she started a relationship with Bowskill, who was controlling and abusive.
Viewers will learn that he went to prison but their relationship continued and when he was released, his behaviour became even more threatening – and Angel began to withdraw.
After being hurt in an incident in which she had been thrown against a wall, Angel took the decision to leave him. What happened next isn’t unclear, however it ended with Bowskill bundling her into the back of a van driven by a friend, Rocco Sansome, and Angel falling out of it at approximately 60mph.
The pair drove off, leaving her for dead.
While doctors said Angel was unlikely to survive, she pulled out of her coma and has since been making gradual progress, including recently taking her first steps again.
Bowskill eventually had his jail sentence increased to 12 years.
C4’s Will Rowson, who commissioned Kidnapped: The Angel Lynn Story, said: “Angel and her family have been so brave, choosing to share their story in the hope it will help others.”
Samantha Anstiss, Chief Creative Officer, Wonderhood Studios added: “Horrifyingly one woman is killed every three days in the UK as a result of domestic abuse so sadly, Angel’s story will be familiar to many other women and their families across the UK. Through using Angel’s own text messages, social media posts and her conversations with friends and family in our film, Kidnapped: The Angel Lynn Story, provides a window into how what starts off as a love story can go horribly wrong, as coercion and control turns abusive, and victims feel trapped and too scared to escape.”
