The man behind the wheel of the vehicle that hit and killed Grace Glofcheskie has pleaded guilty to a number of criminal offences.

Curtis Henri appeared in Guelph court Thursday, quietly saying ‘guilty’ seven times for seven offences – the most serious being criminal negligence causing death.

Glofcheskie, 24, died last December, while walking home near the intersection of Woolwich and Charles streets in Guelph.

She was a recent graduate of the University of Guelph – where she had been on the varsity golf team – and was about to move to Florida for an internship opportunity.

Court documents show that Henri was in a stolen SUV when he tried to evade the RIDE check set up at Rose and Arthur streets.

A police chase ensued, during which Henri lost control of the vehicle, severed a telephone pole and hit Glofcheskie.

Police estimate that the stolen SUV was most likely travelling at 128 km/h or more in the moments before Henri lost control, and possibly as high as 144 km/h.

After that, the 21-year-old ran away from the scene.

It wasn’t until two days later that he was tracked down by police. Investigators learned that he had only received minor back injuries in the collision – and that while he had told acquaintances about the collision, he had not mentioned hitting a pedestrian.

Outside court, Glofcheskie’s father Gerard – who, like many family members, travelled from the Ottawa area to attend the court proceedings – spoke glowingly of his daughter, her enthusiasm and her laugh.

“Grace loved and was loved. Everybody felt better because Grace was around,” he said.

“Her loss to her family is like losing an arm – it does not get any better.”

Court heard that Henri had never been licenced to drive in Ontario or any other jurisdiction.

After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to a sentence of slightly less than nine years in prison. With credit for time served, there are eight years remaining on that sentence.

In addition to criminal negligence causing death, Henri pleaded guilty to theft of a vehicle, breaking and entering with theft, failure to stop at the scene of a collision, possessing a stolen vehicle, breaching probation, and a second count of theft of a vehicle.

He had also been charged with dangerous driving causing death and flight from police causing death.

With reporting by Nicole Lampa