Driver who killed 2 UBC students sentenced to 3 years in prison
Posted November 7, 2023 9:18 am.
Last Updated November 7, 2023 10:13 pm.
The man who admitted to dangerous driving in a 2021 crash that left two UBC students dead has been sentenced to three years in prison.
The judge accepted the joint submission from the Crown and the defence, which had asked for a three-year sentence.
Tim Goerner was also issued a five-year driving prohibition at his hearing Tuesday.
During the sentencing hearing, the court heard that Goerner, an international student at the school, lost control while driving more than 100 kilometres an hour in a 40 zone and drank alcohol at a party hours before the crash.
Goerner previously told the provincial court in Richmond that his actions were avoidable and selfish, and that he would reflect on his wrongdoing for the rest of his life.
Evan Smith and Emily Selwood, both 18, were both killed in the high-speed crash in 2021 when Goerner’s BMW X3 left the road and hit the pair who were on a university sidewalk.
Both Smith and Selwood were pronounced dead at the scene.
Goerner pleaded guilty last month to dangerous driving causing death, but he had initially been charged with impaired driving as well because alcohol was found to be in his system.
Smith’s mother, Debbie O’Day Smith, says she is upset with the joint submission accepted by the judge on Tuesday. She tells CityNews that Goerner should have pleaded guilty to the drunk driving charge as well because it was the “right thing to do.”
“Any apology outside of that is merely lip service,” she said. “I feel the criminal legal system, as it is, skews too heavily towards the rights of the accused, leaving the victims in the dust.”
“The absence of the two alcohol-related charges speaks volumes to me … in particular, I’m upset that the charge of driving with a blood alcohol concentration over .08 causing death was dropped.”
“I think in general, people want to see individuals held accountable for the behavior that they have committed, so if someone has driven impaired and they have caused death I think most people think that should be the appropriate charge, now crown attorneys will plead down charges for a variety of reasons and perhaps they didn’t think they had the evidence to proceed with impaired, that can happen,” Mothers Against Drunk Driving CEO Steve Sullivan added.
On Monday Goerner, dressed in a grey suit, sat in court with his head down, sobbing as Smith’s mother read the first of numerous victim impact statements, where she told him “You robbed me of my baby, my little boy.”
Goerner is a German-born Australian citizen and he faces deportation after his sentence is complete.
With files from Monika Gul
