04
Sept
“Bailey’s absence is felt in every silence, every memory, every moment”
The Stray Ferret has covered the investigation into Bailey Chadwick's death closely and made much of our coverage free-to-read. But local news needs funding to be able to cover important issues and scrutinise people in authority. See the links at the end of this article to some of our recent stories. An annual subscription costs 14p a day. Please sign-up here.
Bailey Chadwick’s mother issued a personal statement after the end of the trial of Joseph Stott yesterday (September 3).
Stott, 25, of Dairy Road, Darley, drove a car on the B6265 at Glasshouses that collided with Bailey, 19, in July last year. The teenager died at the scene.
At yesterday’s trial, Stott changed his plea to guilty to driving whilst over the prescribed limit for alcohol.
He denied two other charges of failing to stop at a road accident and failing to report a road accident. This was accepted by the court following the guilty plea for the drink-driving offence.
Stott had previously admitted to driving without insurance.
He was banned from driving for 20 months, given a 12-month supervision order, 135 hours of unpaid work, and an alcohol tag for 80 days at Harrogate Magistrates Court yesterday (September 2).
You can read our full court report here, read the police reaction here.
North Yorkshire Police issued the following statement on behalf of Dayle Knight after the trial concluded.
My community of Pateley Bridge has felt this loss deeply. There is a shrine for Bailey – a place where people gather, leave flowers, light candles, and play the music he loved. We go there to listen to him, to keep his memory alive. It is beautiful, but it is also heartbreaking, because it should never have had to exist. A shrine is for someone whose life has ended far too soon, and Bailey should still be here living his.
Our family has been broken by his death. His siblings have lost their brother, their friend, this will affect them deeply for the rest of their lives. His grandparents are devastated – no grandparent expects to outlive their grandchild. Every family gathering has an empty space where Bailey should be. His absence is felt in every silence, every memory, every moment.
His friends are heartbroken. They talk about him constantly – his humour, his kindness, the way he made everyone feel included. They visit the shrine, they share stories, and they grieve the future they will never get to share with him. Many of them are still struggling to understand how someone so full of life could be taken so suddenly and so unfairly. There’s one friend who will never be the same, a friend that Bailey grew up with from a young age. He had to find his friend dead in the road with catastrophic injuries, a vision nobody should have to see.
For me, the impact is lifelong. I struggle with anxiety, sleepless nights, and moments where grief overwhelms me without warning. I cannot walk past certain places, hear certain songs, or see boys his age without feeling a deep, physical pain. I am not the person I was before Bailey was killed. A part of me died with him, and that part will never return.
Bailey deserved to live. He deserved to travel, to love, to grow, to build the future he dreamed of. Instead, we are left with memories, heartbreak, and a lifetime of wondering who he would have become. The impact of his death is permanent – for me, for our family, for his friends, and for the community that loved him. Nothing will ever undo the pain of losing him, and nothing will ever make this right. I cannot believe this is my life now.
The old club embracing new ways to survive in Pateley BridgeNidderdale artists exhibit work as annual trail returnsPlan to demolish former Pateley Bridge garage to build five new homesMan sentenced following fatal Pateley Bridge collisionTwo men jailed for Breaking Bad-style chem lab in Harrogate which caused huge explosion at old Jewson factorySenior detective praises police ‘professionalism’ in Bailey Chadwick case
0