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Driver pleads guilty over 2021 crash that killed two University of B.C. students

VANCOUVER — The BC Prosecution Service says a Vancouver man accused in the dangerous driving deaths of two University of British Columbia students has pleaded guilty.
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The RCMP logo is seen outside Royal Canadian Mounted Police "E" Division Headquarters, in Surrey, B.C., on April 13, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

VANCOUVER — The BC Prosecution Service says a Vancouver man accused in the dangerous driving deaths of two University of British Columbia students has pleaded guilty. 

Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman with the prosecution service, says Tim Goerner pleaded guilty to two counts of dangerous driving causing death earlier this month. 

The service says a sentencing hearing will be held for Goerner on Nov. 6. 

The man was originally accused of impaired driving causing death and other charges in September 2022, in relation to the deaths of Evan Smith and Emily Selwood, both 18, who were struck and killed by a vehicle that veered onto a sidewalk near the university's Point Grey campus. 

At the time, the RCMP said the students had been walking just before 2 a.m. on Sept. 26, 2021. 

Mounties from Richmond and the university detachment investigated for nearly a year before charging Goerner, now aged 23.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 25, 2023. 

The Canadian Press