Thief sentenced to eight years for kidnap after stealing car with woman, 89, in passenger seat

A man has been jailed for stealing a car while an elderly woman was sitting in the passenger seat

David Stephenson, 50, of no fixed address, has been jailed this week for eight years and six months after being found guilty of kidnap, theft of motor vehicle, dangerous driving and driving without a license.

On Saturday, January 6, police received a panicked call from the daughter of an 89-year-old woman whose car had been stolen… with her mother in it.

As it was January, she had left the engine running to keep the heating on in the car to keep her elderly mother warm for 10 minutes while she went into the shops near Ashton market.

Stephenson, not phased by the fact a vulnerable elderly woman was in the passenger seat, got in the car and drove off.

Specialist officers from the Roads Policing Unit were immediately notified, and due to the risk posed to the passenger, a pursuit was authorised. 

The car was brought to a safe to stop, Stephenson was arrested and mother and daughter reunited.

Chief Inspector Matt Jackson said: “This must have been really terrifying for the woman who was in the passenger seat when the car got stolen. She is blind and has dementia, she wouldn’t have known what was going on – I can’t even begin to imagine what was going through her mind.

“I am proud of my officers, whose fast thinking and ability to remain calm in any given situation, meant we were able to bring the vehicle to a safe stop, and swiftly arrest Stephenson.

“Their response meant that the woman was safety reunited with her daughter, it could have ended very differently if we didn’t work the way we did to get her back safe.”