CPS APPEALS SENTENCE OF E-BIKE RIDER WHO KILLED GRANDMOTHER ON CROSSING

The Crown Prosecution Service has launched an appeal against the sentence given to Billy Stokoe, who was jailed for six years and nine months after admitting causing death by dangerous driving. Stokoe was riding an illegal e-bike when he struck Gloria Stephenson on a zebra crossing in Sunderland in May last year. He was under the influence of cannabis and had a mobile phone in his hand at the time of the collision. The e-bike also had defective brakes. Stephenson, who was 86, died at the scene.

The appeal has been brought under the unduly lenient sentence scheme. Stokoe was sentenced last month at Newcastle Crown Court. Stephenson's daughter Julie Francis appeared on BBC Breakfast and said Stokoe would serve half of the six year and nine month term in custody, with the remainder on licence. Francis said the conditions of that licence — to keep out of trouble — did not constitute meaningful punishment.

Francis said the judge had missed an opportunity to send a strong message about illegal e-bike use. She also said existing laws prohibiting such riding were not being enforced. Stephenson was described by her family as fit, healthy, and independent, and had been walking her daughter's dog while completing her daily 10,000 steps at the time of the collision. The CPS appeal will now be considered by the Court of Appeal.