Gloria Stephenson, 86, was on a Zebra crossing when e bike rider Billy Stokoe, 19, hit her at high speed. Stokoe couldn’t brake because he held his mobile phone in his left hand.
The family of the devoted grandmother killed by a drugged-up e-biker slammed him for leaving her dead ‘in the gutter’ as he was jailed today.
Gloria Stephenson, 86, a mum-of-four, was on a Zebra crossing near her home when Billy Stokoe, 19, hit her at high speed.
Newcastle Crown Court heard that Stokoe couldn’t brake because he was looking at his mobile phone in his left hand. After spending the day weaving dangerously in and out of traffic, his bike collided with Gloria, killing her instantly. Stokoe then fled the scene on the high-powered e-bike.
Gloria was a widow who had lost three husbands to cancer. She had thirteen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren..
Gloria’s family told how she had been out walking her daughter’s dog and was planning an overseas holiday with friends.
In their tribute, they described her as an ‘amazing mum’ who had devoted her life to her family and her local community.
She once managed to make fly tippers drive off when she pretended to take a picture of them – even though she could not use the camera on her phone.
In contrast, Stokoe thought of no one but himself after the horrific crime, asking to change his bail so he could go on holiday and to a football match as his victim’s family planned her funeral.
Gloria’s furious daughters Julie Francis and Janine Murphy told how Stokoe asked to travel to Wembley to see Sunderland 10 days after he caused their mother’s death by dangerous driving.
Julie said: “He is just a coward, thinking about himself. He left her alone to die like she is a bit of rubbish in the gutter. We had to go to Crown Court three times before he admitted his guilt, which I find disgusting.
“Obviously, it is traumatic for us but it wastes public money and police time. There is no consideration for the community or for people suffering.”
She added that Stokoe deserved to go to prison for a “for a very long time.” “They need to set an example,” she added. “We need justice.
“Ten days after he killed my mother, he actually applied to have his bail changed so he could see Sunderland in the play-offs at Wembley. And then he applied to go on holiday as well.
“So this young man showed no remorse whatsoever. And that just adds to our trauma and our anger really.
“We have all seen these bikes on the streets and they are a menace. So the law needs to be changed.”
“They are terrorising people, making you feel unsafe and threatened. I feel that as soon as I see one.
“As a community and as a society, we need to act. It is no good just sitting there moaning. We need to report it. Then they can come and confiscate the bikes.
“We are not going to get over what happened. We are not going to get our mum back.
“Hopefully we will be able to move on. We have not been able to grieve because we have been holding it back for the court case.”
Janine spoke of her mother’s ‘zest for life’ and stressed that ‘it was not her time to go.’ Gloria had a holiday booked in Lanzarote and was due to travel three weeks after the tragedy.
Janine said: “She was an amazing mum. She had such a zest for life. She still had time. People cannot go out on the road, be reckless, drive while high or on the phone and not expect an accident to happen.
“This has been a nightmare. It has been like something you watch on TV. You never think that it is going to happen to your family.”
Julie described he mum as a “clever and aspirational woman” who was devoted to her grandchildren.
“We did not have much money growing up and she got a job as a cleaner at the hospital doing the tea time shift when my mum came in from work,” she added.
“Her boss recognised something in her and they sent her to Newcastle Polytechnic and she became the domestic services manager for Sunderland Health Authority.
“She was a clever woman and really well respected. She loved her children and grandchildren.
“She would treat them all equally and from being young she would take them to a caravan in Hamsterley Forest and build dens with them. She just loved it. She loved being with her family and we just loved being with her.”
Her children and grandchildren spent days with Glenda in Newcastle, shopping and drinking cocktails together. They will ‘never get over’ the loss of such a loving mum and grandmother but hope the end of the court case will bring ‘some kind of closure’.
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