Electric motorbike teen detained for killing gran

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Electric motorbike teen detained for killing gran2 hours ago Share Save Add as preferred on GoogleDuncan Leatherdaleat Newcastle Crown CourtHandoutGloria Stephenson was killed while crossing a road in Sunderland in May 2025A teenager who killed a beloved and "vivacious" grandmother and left her lying in the road "like rubbish" after hitting her with an illegal electric motorbike has been detained for more than six years. Billy Stokoe had taken cannabis and was using his mobile phone when he ploughed into Gloria Stephenson as she crossed a road in Sunderland, then rode away, Newcastle Crown Court heard. The 86-year-old's daughters said she had a "zest for life" and "selfish" Stokoe compounded their grief and "overwhelming righteous anger" by going to football matches and planning holidays days after killing her.

Stokoe, who was 18 at the time of the crash in May 2025, admitted causing death by dangerous driving. The mother of four daughters and 13 grandchildren, was walking a family dog when she used a zebra crossing on Burdon Road at about 13:00 BST on 16 May, prosecutor Michael Bunch said. While traffic on one side stopped to let her cross, Stokoe drove the off-road electronic motorbike, which was not road legal and was in a poor condition, straight into her, making no attempt to stop or swerve, the court heard.

The Details

Northumbria PoliceBilly Stokoe admitted causing death by dangerous drivingDashcam footage shown to the court showed the collision, with balaclava-clad Stokoe being knocked off his bike, then getting back on and riding away after looking at his victim lying on the crossing. Passers by tried to help but paramedics confirmed she died at the scene. Stokoe, of Mayo Drive in Sunderland, drove to a friend's house where he ditched the bike and changed his clothes, before going home and telling his mother, who took him to the police station, the court heard.

He was found to be three times the driving limit for cannabis and CCTV showed him using a mobile phone for at least half a mile up to the crash, the court heard. 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, Bunch said. Northumbria PoliceBilly Stokoe was seen on CCTV and dashcam footage riding the bike before the crashHis victim's eldest daughter told the court her mother, who had been widowed three times and had a successful career in the NHS, was resilient and courageous, intelligent, confident and ambitious with a "zest for life".

She was "vital and vivacious" until the day Stokoe killed her, she said, and was known as "glamorous Gloria" and had "strong moral principles". "When you killed our mam, you took a life that was good, that had purpose, that gave more than it took," she told Stokoe. He drove off and "left our beautiful, clever courageous mam to die at the side of the road like she was a piece of rubbish in the gutter", her daughter said.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.