Man steals car while driver’s blind mum with dementia is in the backseat

A man has been jailed for years after stealing a car with an 89-year-old woman sitting in the backseat.

The woman’s daughter found the car had been snatched while she nipped to the shops in Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester – with her blind and disabled mum inside.

Emergency services received a panicked call from the daughter on January 6, saying ‘someone took my car and my mum.’

She had left the engine running to keep the car warm for her elderly mother who has dementia while she was gone for 10 minutes.

David Stephenson stole the car with the vulnerable woman sat inside (Credits: GMP)

Multiple police vehicles took part in the chase (Credits: Greater Manchester Police/SWNS)

The pursuit (Credits: Greater Manchester Police / SWNS)

But David Stephenson, 51, was not deterred by the vulnerable woman on the passenger seat.

He got in the car and drove off.

The daughter returned to find the car gone with her loved one inside.

The tearful daughter told the 999 dispatcher: ‘They took my mum.

‘She’s disabled and blind and she’s got dementia.

‘What will they do with my mum? Oh my God, what will they do with my mom?’

She tries to calm her down, encouraging her to ‘take a deep breath’ as officers were on their way.

David Stephenson was jailed for more than eight years after kidnapping the elderly woman (Credits: GMP)

Dashcam footage shows police cars pursue Stephenson behind the wheel, navigating traffic at speeds of up to 64mph.

An officer can be heard say into the radio they will ‘have to continue with this given the risk to the elderly female on board.’

They were able to force the car to a safe stop, detain Stephenson and reunite the elderly woman with her daughter.

Stephenson, of no fixed abode, was jailed for eight years and six months this week.

It comes after he was found guilty of kidnap, theft of motor vehicle, dangerous driving and driving without a license.

He was also disqualified from driving for six years.

Chief Inspector Matt Jackson from GMP’s 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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