Woman's terrified 999 call after car thief kidnapped her 89-year-old mother

David Stephenson, 50, of no fixed abode 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 6 January 2024, police received a panicked call from the daughter of an 89-year-old woman whose car had been stolen from outside Ashton market… 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. 

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

In the call the sobbing daughter said:  "I've gone to the shop to pick some things up for my mum and I've come back and the car's gone with my mum.

"My mum's in the car... she's disabled and she's blind and she's got dementia.

"What will they do with my mum, what will they do with her?"