Billy Stokoe Sentenced To Six Years Nine Months For Killing Gloria Stephenson On Zebra Crossing

Billy Stokoe, 19, was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to causing the death by dangerous driving of 86-year-old Gloria Stephenson at Newcastle Crown Court in February.

“- Published The daughter of a beloved and "vivacious" grandmother has told the teenage electric motorbike rider who left her dying in the road: "I will hate you until my last breath”

BBC

The collision happened on 16 May last year on the B1286 Burdon Road in Sunderland, near the junction with Lidcombe Close, when Stokoe rode an illegal and defective black Sur-Ron electric motorbike while using a zebra crossing.

BBC

Sky News said Stokoe was over the cannabis limit when he collided with Mrs Stephenson, who died at the scene after suffering a severe leg injury and cardiac arrest.

Judge Robert Adams said Mrs Stephenson was a vulnerable road user on a pedestrian crossing who had waited for traffic to stop for her and the dog, and Stokoe was also disqualified from driving for more than eight years.

The BBC reported that Stokoe admitted causing death by dangerous driving and was sentenced to almost seven years in youth detention after ploughing into Gloria Stephenson on the zebra crossing and riding away.

Gloria Stephenson’s daughters told the court that Stokoe’s actions left them furious, with Julie Francis saying, "He killed our mam, he left the scene," and adding that he "has shown no remorse."

In her victim statement, Lisa Tench addressed Stokoe in the dock and said, "Mam didn’t stand a chance. You hit her with such ferocity that you catapulted her feet away from the crossing".

Chronicle Live

The BBC said dashcam footage showed the balaclava-clad Stokoe being knocked off his bike and then riding away after looking at his 86-year-old victim lying on the crossing.

Chronicle Live reported that Julie Francis said Stokoe applied to vary his bail conditions so he could go to Wembley to watch Sunderland play and also applied to go on holiday, and she described it as showing "no remorse whatsoever."

LBC quoted Stokoe’s defence as saying he was remorseful and had told the court, "I will forever be sorry and I don’t expect to ever be forgiven."

Prosecutor Michael Bunch told the court that dashcam footage showed Stokoe riding with his phone in his left hand prior to the fatal collision, and the BBC said CCTV showed him using a mobile phone for at least half a mile up to the crash.

“Moment teen e-bike rider high on cannabis fatally crashes into great-grandmother, 86, at zebra crossing This is the shocking moment a teenager, who rode an e-bike while dangerously high on cannabis, knocked down and killed an 86-year-old on a zebra crossing”

LBC

The BBC reported that the bike was in a poor condition with the only brake lever being on the left handle, the side he was holding the phone on, and that Stokoe drove the off-road electronic motorbike straight into Gloria Stephenson making no attempt to stop or swerve.

Sky News said Stokoe held his mobile phone in his left hand despite the left-sided brake being the only one that worked, and it said he rode for half-a-mile in that manner.

Outside court, Northumbria Police urged the public to report dangerous e-bike riders, with Superintendent Billy Mulligan saying, "Let us know so we can do something about it".

The BBC said Stokoe was banned from driving for eight years, four months and two weeks, and it added that he must also pass an extended test.