Billy Stokoe Gets 6 Years 9 Months for Killing 86-Year-Old on Zebra Crossing
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · May 15
Billy Stokoe Gets 6 Years 9 Months for Killing 86-Year-Old on Zebra Crossing
7 articles · Updated · BBC.com · May 15
Newcastle Crown Court sentenced Billy Stokoe to six years and nine months in youth detention for causing Gloria Stephenson’s death by dangerous driving, and banned him from driving for eight years, four months and two weeks.
Three times over the cannabis driving limit, Stokoe was using a mobile phone when he rode an illegal, poorly maintained electric motorbike into the 86-year-old on a Sunderland zebra crossing in May 2025, making no attempt to stop or swerve.
Dashcam footage showed the balaclava-clad rider look at Stephenson lying in the road before riding away; he later ditched the bike, changed clothes and then went with his mother to a police station.
Stephenson’s daughters told the court their mother was a vital, independent former NHS worker with 13 grandchildren, and condemned Stokoe for leaving her to die and then resuming normal life days later.
A teen with a low IQ killed a great-grandmother. Can the UK's justice system truly reform him?
Police are seizing thousands of illegal e-bikes. Is this crackdown enough to prevent the next tragic death?