Oliver Hartley, 24, has been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment for killing 65-year-old Linda Stockdale by careless driving near Catterick. 

Linda was returning home in the early hours of the morning after baby-sitting her grandchildren.

Hartley had taken his mother’s black Audi A7 from her home in Harrogate without her permission and no insurance to drive it. 

He had also been drinking alcohol prior to driving and recorded a range from 119 to 203 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood in the evidential test – the prescribed limit for driving is 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

Hartley was involved in a head-on collision with Linda’s blue Kia Ceed. 

The collision happened on the A6055 between Catterick and Leeming bar at around 2.18am on the 1st August 2021.

According to a technical expert Position Navigation and Timing, Hartley was travelling at at least 72mph at the point when he collided with the Kia.

The 24-year-old of Bentley Lane, Meanwood, Leeds, was awaiting trial for causing death by dangerous driving. 

However, he offered a lesser plea of causing death by careless driving which was accepted by the court.

Hartley appeared at York Crown Court yesterday for sentencing.

He was also banned from driving for six months and will have to take an extended driving test. 

Linda’s partner, Christopher Gall, said in a statement: “Linda and I were together for 25 years. We were besotted with each other, and we did absolutely everything together. Losing Linda has changed my life completely, it turned my whole world upside down.

“We had retirement plans that we never got to experience. 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 Stockdale from South Yorkshire Police