A Chinese man has admitted he was drunk when his SUV slammed head-on into a newspaper carrier's vehicle in north London, killing its 60-year-old driver last November.
Jinghao Zhou pleaded guilty to impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing death on Friday. It's expected the remaining charges of driving with more than 80mg of alcohol in blood causing death and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death will be dropped.
The 23-year-old was charged following the November 24 crash on Sunningdale Rd. and Richmond St. that claimed the life of Gloria Chivers. The long-time carrier for the London Free Press was making her deliveries when Zhou's SUV crashed into her vehicle at 3am.
In a statement of facts, the court heard Zhou had between 185mg and 240mg of alcohol in his blood at the time of the crash.
Zhou's lawyer, Jim Dean said his client was quick to take responsibility for his actions.
"Right from the outset, when he was taken to the hospital and advised of the death of Ms. Chivers he was immediately remorseful and said how sorry he was," said Dean. "The courts recognize that [the guilty plea] is a sign of remorse, it's something mitigating. Certainly the accused gets credit for a guilty plea, especially an early guilty plea."
In addition to the impaired charge, Zhou also pleaded guilty to two offences under the Immigration Refugee Protection Act. Those charges are in relation to possession of a fraudulent passport.
Zhou has been in Canada since 2013. He originally gained entry to the county on a student visa, but remained here with the use of the fake document.
Both the defence and the Crown will provide case law to support their sentencing recommendations before Zhou's next court appearance on June 22.
"There is a range of sentences that similar cases have seen," said Dean. "There are certain factors that set that out. Each case is very individual, so I think anything in the four to six year range is certainly reasonable for this case."
It's unknown how long a prison sentence the Crown will be asking for.
