Joseph Henry Stott has been sentenced after pleading guilty to driving over the prescribed alcohol limit following a fatal collision near Pateley Bridge, in a case North Yorkshire Police said was the force’s first conviction secured using a forward calculation.
Stott, aged 25, changed his plea at Harrogate Magistrates’ Court on 3 September 2026. He was banned from driving for 20 months and given a 12-month community order, 135 hours of unpaid work and an 80-day alcohol tag. He had also previously admitted driving without insurance.
The case relates to the death of 19-year-old Bailey Chadwick, who was struck by a car in the early hours of 20 July 2025. The collision happened on the B6265 at Lupton Bank, between Pateley Bridge and Glasshouses.
Police said the prosecution relied on a forward calculation because Stott was not arrested until four days after the collision. The method was used to calculate his likely alcohol level at the time he was driving, based on later evidence.
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The court accepted the prosecution position that the collision itself could not be attributed to Stott because of the pedestrian’s position on the dark road. The conviction and sentence relate to driving over the alcohol limit.
The guilty plea and sentence mark a new criminal-justice stage in a case arising from the 2025 fatal collision. North Yorkshire Police’s statement also highlights the evidential significance of using a forward calculation to secure the drink-driving conviction.
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