Billy Stokoe has been jailed (Image: Northumbria Police)
Police have pleaded with parents across Britain to stop buying lethal E-bikes for their kids as “birthday and Christmas” presents as a killer teen was jailed for six and a half years. Billy Stokoe, 19, ploughed into Gloria Stephenson, 86, as she crossed a zebra crossing while taking her daily 10,000 steps along with her daughter’s dog. Sickening video footage from the scene, played to a judge at Newcastle Crown Court, shows Stokoe collide with Gloria and then fall from his machine.
With a callous disregard for his actions, he first retrieved the bike and rode back to look down at Mrs Stephenson before speeding off to hide the machine at his friend’s home. The chilling sight of Billy Stokoe, his face hidden by a green balaclava, in the seconds before mowing down 86-year-old Gloria Stephenson could have been witnessed anywhere in the UK, where a terrifying E-bike ‘culture’ has grown.
UK’s broadband firms ranked: Is yours first or last?
Read more: Former soap star named among Britain’s 12 most wanted for £13.6m fraud
Read more: Big Brother cop camera leads to nearly 200 arrests in crime-ridden UK town
Retired Hospital Domestic Services Manager Mrs Stephenson’s daughters said of Stokoe: “He has shown no remorse and left our mam like a piece of rubbish in the gutter.”
One of her four daughters arrived at the scene with Gloria’s grandson as attempts were being made to resuscitate her, but all efforts to save her were in vain.
Prosecutor Michael Bunch said: “It appears the defendant had not seen Mrs Stephenson until the moment of impact.
“There was no discernible manoeuvring of the motor bike ahead of impact.”
Stokoe pleaded guilty in February to causing the death of Mrs Stephenson by dangerous driving while unlicenced and uninsured and under the influence of cannabis.
Gran Gloria Stephenson (Image: PA)
Superintendent Billy Mulligan, who led the case against Stokoe, said mums and dads have no idea of the speed and power of the machines they’re handing to their kids – or the legal responsibilities that come with them.
The Sur-ron Light Bee X ridden by Stokoe has a top speed of 47mph and can reach 30mph in a devastating 2.7 seconds, faster than most cars.
With a slight modification to the battery and control centre, the bikes have enough torque to propel them to 60mph in 3 seconds, making them a lethal weapon in the hands of the young helmetless riders now a common sight in any British town.
Supt Mulligan called for tighter legislation to trap E-bike yobs.
He said: “Culturally I think there are issues where young kids are driving around with balaclavas on, hiding their identity. They don’t have licenses, they’ve not been trained to ride bikes in this manner, most of them have never passed their test.
Electric mountain bike charging battery (Image: Getty Images)
“You have elements of our community who are being bought these bikes because they’re on Christmas lists, they’re on birthday present lists.
“We need parents to understand what they are buying their children and unfortunately a case like this, where such a tragedy has occurred, might make people stop and think for a moment.
“So I think the plea, to any parent, is that they understand the capability of these machines, to understand the danger they are putting their own child in the moment they arrive for them and also the danger to the wider community.
“It’s a regional and a national issue. We have local stores, independent stores and also national businesses who are selling these vehicles.
“In some cases, it’d be the parents buying the bikes and the scooters, so it’s an adult purchasing these bikes. We’ll do the education pieces and organisation within our own region, but I think nationally, we’re not isolated. It’s happening right across the country, and I think we need legislation that will catch them.”
Billy Stokoe leaving previous court hearing with face covered (Image: Jeremy Armstrong)
He said E-bikes like the Sur-ron, which costs £4,000 to buy new, represent a “huge investment” for families – and yet there are few places where they can be ridden legally.
Supt Mulligan said: “They can be ridden on private land. The rider needs a licence and insurance and even with those things, that type of bike cannot be legally taken on the roads.
“If we see them being ridden illegally we will seize them and we’ll crush them and I make no apologies for that. These bikes are a huge investment from a family’s income and they can lose them in a matter of days because of the way they’re being used.”
Video footage of the sickening incident in Sunderland shows Stokoe, who claimed to have legally bought the bike himself, running to retrieve his bike after mowing down Mrs Stephenson on a zebra crossing while looking at his phone.
Handout dashcam video grab dated 16/05/25 issued by Northumbria Police (Image: Northumbria Police/PA Wire)
He then circles back to see what had happened, before riding off to conceal the bike at a friend’s house, stripping off his grey tracksuit top and walking home.
Police put out an immediate appeal and he was driven to his local police station by his mother within two hours.
Supt Mulligan said: “It all took place on May the 16th, last year, which was on Burdon Road in Sunderland.
“Stokoe had been riding the Sur-ron bike for most of the day travelling at speed. We have footage, which captures the events before the incident itself, where he’s riding the vehicle without using his hands. He’s riding using his mobile phone, without a hand on the brake, at speed, weaving in out of traffic and around parked cars.
“Gloria Stevenson, who was an 86-year-old from the local area, had been crossing at the Zebra Crossing. Stokoe was paying no attention and collided with her.
Handout dashcam video grab dated 16/05/25 issued by Northumbria Police (Image: Northumbria Police/PA Wire)
“Immediately afterward he gets up and the first thing he does is go back to his bike, gets back on the bike, turns away, but then comes back. And then there’s that immediate reaction where he realises what he’s done.
“Whilst members of the public were paying assistance to Gloria while she’s on the ground, and emergency services are being called, Billy Stokoe gets back on the Sur-ron and makes good his escape.
“We’ve checked CCTV footage and we’re able to see him take that bite to an associate’s address, where he attempts to cover up what he’s done. He hides the Sur-ron within the garden of that premises. He quickly removes items of his clothing and then walks away from the address as if nothing’s happened. “
Because Stokoe had no previous run-ins with the law, he wasn’t recognised by neighbourhood police teams.
However, his mother recognised the description of him and the bike and took him to hand himself in.
Further video footage shows self-pitying Stokoe bursting into tears on being told he’s being charged with causing death by dangerous driving. As the enormity of what he’s done sinks in, he asks: “So is she dead?”
Stokoe had been on his phone moments earlier and was holding it in his left hand – the one he needed for braking – as he ploughed into his victim.
Supt Mulligan said he wanted to bust the myth that police will not pursue and stop youth using the roads on E-bikes.
He said: “We have trained officers who can make tactical contact with these bikes when it’s safe to do so.
“We’ve made a real investment in what we call the specialist capabilities unit, which includes the use of drones, so sometimes we can follow these bikes without them even knowing that we’re following them using drones or unmarked cars.
“We’re trialling a DNA selector spray where we can spray people around these bikes and then use that spray to identify them later on if they come into contact with us. There’s a multitude of different tactics we can deploy and it all starts with intelligence in the community.
“If someone’s living in your street, riding around, committing these offences, causing disorder, that’s something we can deal with proactively and we need the public to contact us as soon as they see this happening.”