Yahoo News 'I've gone to the shop and come back and my car's gone... with my 89-year-old mum inside'
This is the moment a panicked daughter called the police after her car was stolen - with her 89-year-old blind mum inside.
The car was snatched from near Market Hall in Ashton-under-Lyne on Saturday, January 6. The owner had left her mum, who was blind, disabled and has dementia, inside the car with the engine running to keep the heating on.
She left her for 10 minutes as she went into the shops. But David Stephenson, not phased by the fact the elderly woman was inside, got into the car and drove off.
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The victim made a panicked call to 999. In footage shared by Greater Manchester Police today, following Stephenson's sentencing, the woman is heard saying: "I've gone to the shop to pick some slippers up for my mum and I've come back and my car's gone with my mum. My mum's in the car."
The terrified victim then begins to cry. She goes on: "They've took her, they've took my car and my mum. She's disabled and she's blind and she's got dementia.
"My mum's in the car, what will they do with her?! What will they do with her?! What will they do with my mum? Oh my god, what will they do with my mum?"
Specialist officers at GMP's Roads Policing Unit were immediately alerted during the call and gave chase to the vehicle 'due to the risk posed to the passenger'. After a short pursuit, the car was brought to a 'safe stop'.
Stephenson was detained and the elderly woman was reunited with her daughter. She was thankfully uninjured.
Stephenson was subsequently charged and found guilty of kidnap, theft of motor vehicle, dangerous driving and driving without a license, police said. The 51-year-old of no fixed abode, was jailed this week for eight years and six months.
Chief Inspector Matt Jackson from our Specialist Operations 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."
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