(image credit - TRU WolfPack)

By Michael Reeve

TRU Volleyball Crash

Abbinett pleads guilty to one charge; second charge to be stayed following sentencing

Jun 26, 2025 | 12:16 PM

KAMLOOPS — The man accused of causing a crash that killed a TRU athlete in November 2023 has pleaded guilty to one count of driving without due care and attention.

Colval Abbinett was back in court Thursday (June 26) for an arraignment hearing, and he was required to enter a plea today after numerous postponements. He’s facing charges connected to the crash that killed Owyn McInnis, and left Riley Brinnen and Owen Waterhouse with life-changing injuries.

Abbinett has also been charged with driving without reasonable consideration, but that wasn’t heard Thursday, as the judge said the matter will be “dealt with in another fashion.”

The BC Prosecution Service confirmed the second count will be stayed following sentencing.

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“Both charges are in relation to the same conduct, which occurred on November 29, 2023 in Kamloops. The charges are different ways of describing the same conduct: the two charges each allege a different way of committing the offence of careless driving. The Kienapple principle, established by the Supreme Court of Canada in R v Kienapple, [1975] 1 SCR 729, prevents the judge from convicting a person multiple times for the same conduct when the offences are not meaningfully distinct,” reads an email from the Prosecution Service.

Appearing via a video feed, Abbinett requested a pre-sentence report to be authored prior to sentencing, and that was accepted by the Crown.

Abbinett still does not have a lawyer, though he also said Thursday that he hopes to have one in place before he is back in court on August 25 to fix a date for sentencing.