Man Who Killed Woman During Sex After Drinking 24 Bottles Of Beer Jailed For 4 Years

A man who allegedly strangled a woman to death during sex after drinking 24 bottles of beer has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison in Darlington, England.

Sam Pybus, 31, from Darlington, has been accused of strangling Sophie Moss, 35, to death while the pair had consensual “rough” sex at her home in Darlington on Feb. 7 earlier this year.

Police were summoned to her home on a distress call, however, Moss would be found unresponsive some time after. She was immediately rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival, the Guardian reported.

Pybus, who was married to another woman at the time of the murder, admitted to the detectives that “he must have strangled Moss but couldn’t remember doing so.” He told the officers that Moss was beside him lying naked and unresponsive when he woke up from his sleep.

Instead of attempting life-saving measures, however, Pybus reportedly proceeded to his car and thought about what to do for the next for some 15 minutes before deciding to drive to the Darlington Police Station to alert officers regarding her condition.

Pybus told the officers that he had been drinking for around 10 hours and had consumed some 24 bottles of Amstel lager before visiting Moss.

He told the officers that he must have strangled her because his hands were hurting. However, he could not recollect or remember the events that unfolded. Pybus said that he used to sometimes apply “mild pressure” to Moss' neck during intercourse and that she would enjoy it, the Mirror reported.

Moss reportedly lived alone while her children lived with her husband. She had a history of alcohol misuse and had physical and mental health problems. She was in a relationship with another man at the time of the murder but had been having consensual sex with Pybus on and off for three years.

She was reportedly described in court as “a vulnerable individual who endured poor physical and mental health.”

Pybus admitted to killing Moss but rebuffed the murder charge, claiming that he did not mean to cause her any harm or serious injury. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter and has been sentenced to four years and eight months in prison by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Moss' autopsy reports revealed that she died from strangulation. The pathologist said that her injuries “do not suggest either very prolonged or very forceful strangulation or strangulation which was actively resisted.”

“Sophie was a much-loved mother, daughter, and sister and her death has devastated her entire family. The sense of loss of Sophie has been, to use her brother James’ own words for the whole family, immeasurable,” Judge Paul Watson QC said.