Joyrider steals mum’s Audi car and kills ‘incredible’ grandma in horror head-on crash

Oliver Hartley, 24, was sentenced to 12 months in jail on Friday for causing the death of 65-year-old Linda Stockdale by careless driving in North Yorkshire in 2021

16:22, 20 Oct 2025

Oliver Hartley, 24, and Linda Stockdale, 65

View 3 ImagesLinda Stockdale, 65, tragically died after her Kia Ceed was struck head-on by an Audi A7 driven by 24-year-old Oliver Hartley, who had been drinking(Image: MEN Media)

A man who stole his mum's car for a drunken joyride has been jailed after crashing into and killing a grandmother who was "due to retire a week after the incident".

Oliver Hartley, 24, took his mum's black Audi A7 from her home in Harrogate, North Yorkshire [1], after spending the evening drinking [2], a court heard. He was speeding southbound on the A6055 between Catterick and Leeming at around 2.18am on August 1, 2021, when he crashed into Linda Stockdale's Kia Ceed. Ms Stockdale, 65, tragically died at the scene.

The mum-of-two had been driving home to Tunstall after caring for her grandchildren.

Hartley, of Bentley Lane, Meanwood, Leeds, appeared at York Crown Court on Friday (October 17), where he was sentenced to 12 months in prison. He was also banned from driving for six months and will have to take an extended driving test.

View 3 Images'She was an incredible lady, so kind and understanding, so smiley and positive, simply a person everybody loved,' her daughter, Lisa Roper, said(Image: North Yorkshire Police / SWNS)

Hartley had originally been awaiting trial for causing death by dangerous driving. However, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of causing death by careless driving, which the court accepted.

Tests showed his blood alcohol levels were between 119 and 203 milligrams - well above the legal limit of 80 milligrams per 100 millilitres of blood.

He had already pleaded guilty to drink-driving at York Magistrates' Court on February 1, 2022, where he received a 20-month driving ban.

Hartley also admitted to driving his mother's car without her permission and without insurance.

Data from Hartley's mobile phone showed he had driven up and down the A1(M) and the A6055 seven times, reaching as far north as Scotch Corner before the collision while speeding.

Ms Stockdale's partner, Christopher Gall, said: "Losing Linda has changed my life completely, it turned my whole world [5] upside down. Linda was due to retire a week after the incident, and we had so many plans. It was our time to enjoy together and that has been stolen away from me and the family.

"Linda and I were together for 25 years.

We were besotted with each other, and we did absolutely everything together. Four years to get to this point has been torturous and could have been avoided had it not been for the chosen actions of Mr Hartley. You destroyed so many lives that night.

"I no longer sleep properly; I wake in the night in a panic because Linda isn't there.

I worry and then I remember - I live this life I never wanted or ever imagined."

Ms Stockdale's daughter, Lisa Roper, said: "She was an incredible lady, so kind and understanding, so smiley and positive, simply a person everybody loved. She was the heart of our family, the very core that kept us together and she was there for everybody whenever they needed it.

"Having to have that heartbreaking conversation with my children to explain that their favourite person in the world was gone was devastating. To tell them there would be no more grandma days, no more sleepovers, no more grandma adventures!"

Ms Stockdale's family have received specialist support throughout the investigation and court case over the past four years.

View 3 ImagesOliver Hartley, 24, of Bentley Lane, Meanwood, Leeds, offered a lesser plea of causing death by careless driving, which was accepted by the court(Image: North Yorkshire Police / SWNS)

After reviewing the recovered location data, a technical expert in Position Navigation and Timing concluded: "Taking into account this worst-case level of speed accuracy, it can be stated that immediately before the collision and for at least 14 seconds, the vehicle carrying the Phone was recorded at a speed (based on 10-second averaging) between 95 and 105mph."

"Despite slowing down, it is likely that the speed was least 72mph at the point when it collided with the Kia," they added.

The Forensic Collision Investigator ruled out environmental factors and vehicle defects, concluding that "the primary cause to be the driver of the Audi travelling on the incorrect side of the road, whilst lost and intoxicated".

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Following the sentencing, DC Laura Cleary, of the Major Collision Investigation Team, said: "Hartley showed an appalling lack of concern to the safety of other road users.

He got behind the wheel of his mother's car when he did not have permission to drive, was uninsured and intoxicated with alcohol.

"Hartley then drove at excessive and inappropriate speeds immediately prior to the head-on collision which took Linda's life.

He now has to face the consequences of his dreadful actions."

References

^ North Yorkshire (www.mirror.co.uk)
^ drinking (www.mirror.co.uk)
^ Chris Whitty says people were forced indoors too much during Covid pandemic (www.mirror.co.uk)
^ Virginia Giuffre 'prayed to black out' during sex with Jeffrey Epstein' (www.mirror.co.uk)
^ world (www.mirror.co.uk)