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Hit and run suspect granted bail again in Kamloops

Jason Charles Gourlay is charged with fatally hitting a teen with his jeep last fall.
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—- Kamloops this Week

The man accused of killing a teenaged girl in a hit-and-run crash on a Kamloops street last year has once again been released on bail.

Jason Gourlay was released with the consent of prosecutors on Thursday following a brief hearing in Kamloops provincial court.

The 42-year-old is facing charges of failing to remain at the scene of an accident and tampering with evidence, as well as unrelated counts of possession of a controlled substance and breach of bail.

Jennifer Gatey was struck and killed alongside an Aberdeen street on Nov. 4, 2016. The 16-year-old was crossing Pacific Way behind her family’s home to catch a bus to the Tournament Capital Centre.

Gourlay’s Jeep was identified as having potentially been involved with Gatey’s death within days of the hit and run. It was eventually seized by police and forensic evidence was collected.

RELATED: Owner of jeep wants it back

Gourlay was arrested on March 3 and granted his first crack at bail less than a week later, under strict conditions that he stay at a drug-rehabilitation facility on Vancouver Island.

He was arrested on April 18 and charged with one count alleging he breached his bail conditions by failing to reside as directed and failing to abide by house rules.

Gourlay’s new bail conditions are almost identical to the order made in March. He was ordered released on $20,000 cash bail and will be required to stay at an addictions-treatment centre in Surrey.

Kamloops provincial court Judge Stephen Harrison ordered Gourlay released into the care of his mother, who is to immediately drive him to the facility in Surrey.

Gourlay is scheduled to stand trial on March 26, 2018, with four weeks set aside in court. A five-day voir dire hearing is set for late February 2018 so lawyers can argue what evidence will be allowed at trial.