Drunk driver who killed 2 students in road accident sentenced to 3 years

A Crown attorney says a driver who was drunk when he killed two University of British Columbia students should serve three years in jail and be prohibited from driving from five years.

A sentencing hearing in provincial court in Richmond, B.C., has heard that Tim Goerner an international student at the university drank alcohol at a party the night of Sept. 25, 2021.

The court heard Goerner was driving on campus early the next morning between 100 and 120 kilometres an hour in a 40-kilometre speed zone.

The two victims, Evan Smith and Emily Selwood, both 18, were on a sidewalk when they were hit from behind by Goerner's vehicle, which also hit a street lamp and boulder before becoming airborne.

Both Smith and Selwood were pronounced dead at the scene, and Goerner pleaded guilty last month to dangerous driving causing death.

Goerner, dressed in a grey suit, sat in court with his head down, sobbing as Evan Smith's mother read the first of numerous victim impact statements, where she told him "you robbed me of my baby, my little boy."