Karl Lilgert denied appeal by Supreme Court of Canada in Queen of the North sinking
Two people went missing and were presumed dead when the ferry sank in 2006
The Supreme Court of Canada will not hear an appeal by Karl Lilgert, the former BC Ferries officer who was at the helm of the Queen of the North when it sank off the coast of B.C. in 2006.
Lilgert was convicted of two counts of causing death by criminal negligence, after two people went missing and were presumed dead in the disaster.
The 125-metre car and passenger ferry went down after striking Gil Island off B.C.'s Central Coast. Evidence at the trial showed Lilgert failed to make a critical turn in the middle of the night.
Lilgert was convicted of two counts of criminal negligence for causing the deaths of Gerald Foisy and Shirley Rosette, after a lengthy jury trial in 2013.
Thursday's decision by the Supreme Court of Canada not to hear Lilgert's appeal means his legal fight is over and it is expected he will have to serve his four year sentence.
The Supreme Court does not issue a reason when it turns down an application for an appeal.
Distracted on the bridge
During the course of the 2013 trial, the B.C. Supreme Court heard Lilgert was likely distracted by the presence of his former lover, quartermaster Karen Briker, who was the only other person on the bridge with him in the minutes before the ship hit the rocks.
Lilgert testified in his own defence, telling the jury he was busy navigating the ship and ordering course changes and was challenged by rough weather and unreliable equipment.
But B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sunni Stromberg-Stein ruled that it was clear Lilgert's relationship with Briker was a factor in the sinking, and in delivering the sentence, said the "egregious" nature of the crime called for a strong sentence, as it was not an accident or lapse in judgment.
Lilgirt was sentenced to four years in prison, but he has been out on bail pending his appeals.
During his hearing at the B.C. Court of Appeal in 2014, Lilgert's lawyer Glen Orris told the court that the instructions from the judge to the jury gave the Crown an unfair advantage, leading to the conviction of criminal negligence causing death.
But the B.C. Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal, so Lilgert asked the Supreme Court of Canada for leave to appeal his conviction.