‘I will hate you until my breath’ vow to e-bike thug who killed grandmother | UK | News
The distraught daughter of a grandmother who was mowed down and killed by a teenage E-biker told her she would “hate you until my last breath” as she was jailed for a high-speed hit-and-run yesterday. Relatives of Gloria Stephenson were “lit with rage” after learning predatory thug Billy Stokoe, whose modified machine could reach speeds of up to 60mph, will be jailed for less than three-and-a-half years. There were gasps of shock when Judge Robert Adams told the 19-year-old killer he would spend just six years and nine months behind bars for the death of 86-year-old Gloria Stephenson, who crossed the pedestrian crossing while taking 10,000 steps a day with her daughter’s dog.
The decision outraged Ms Stephenson’s family; they also described it as “sickening and disgusting” and emphasized that Stokoe showed no remorse for his actions. Sickening video footage of the scene shown at Newcastle Crown Court showed Stokoe colliding with the pensioner and then falling off the bike.
Before callously disregarding her predicament, he picked up the bike and turned back to look after Miss Stephenson, then sped off to hide the machine at his friend’s house.
Just 10 days after his arrest he asked police if he could change his bail conditions to allow him to watch Sunderland in last year’s Championship play-off final at Wembley.
Following the hearing, retired Hospital Home Services Manager Mrs Stephenson’s eldest daughter, Julie Francis, said: “This is absolutely disgusting and we are ablaze with anger.
“How can this be justice when he’s serving three years in prison for taking our mother’s life?”
On May 16 last year, Stokoe’s judgment was impaired by smoking cannabis and he was unable to brake an unroadworthy Sur-ron E-bike he had bought from a friend who advertised it for sale on Facebook.
The bike only had a working rear brake and Stokoe was operating the left brake lever, which he could not use because he had his phone in his hand and was looking at it when he hit the pensioner as he crossed Burdon Road, Sunderland, Tyne and Wear in bright sunshine at 1pm.
Ms. Stephenson, who suffered multiple broken bones and a ruptured heart wall, had gone for her daily walk while wearing sneakers to pick up her daughter Lisa Tench’s dog.
In a harrowing victim statement, Ms Tench described how she was called to the scene by a friend.
Addressing Stokoe, he said: “I will never forget the sight of my mother lying bruised and battered on the road, her right leg amputated below the knee and her leg hanging by a rope.
“He fought so hard to breathe. I begged him not to leave me. He tried, with tears streaming down his cheeks, but his body was too traumatized and he couldn’t fight the wounds you gave him.”
“You have no moral compass. You are not a victim of your circumstances, you are a victim of your own actions. I will hate you until my last breath.”
Judge Adams could have sentenced Stokoe to a maximum of 18 years in prison, but reduced the sentence because he showed remorse and handed himself in to police an hour and a half after the crash. Because he confessed his crime, the sentence was reduced by another quarter.
Judge Adams added: “It is clear that his family are in great pain and are very angry.”
Stokoe was also banned from driving for eight years and four months, at which point he will have to take a lengthy driving test.
Helen Towers, who worked for apprentice bricklayer Stokoe, said he had ADHD, which he self-treated by smoking cannabis.
Stokoe pleaded guilty in February to causing Ms Stephenson’s death by dangerous driving while disqualified, uninsured and under the influence of cannabis.
