Despite evidence an illegal street race might have been underway when a speeding BMW 323i struck and killed a teenage cyclist, a judge has acquitted a Toronto man of various driving-related criminal offences.

“Looking at the whole of the evidence, I certainly can agree, there is suspicion that the cars were racing, what is lacking though is proof,” Superior Court Justice Shaun Nakatsuru said Thursday reading his decision.

“That is sadly the reality of this case.”

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Johan Vaz, 25, was behind the wheel of a Honda and speeding along Sheppard Ave. E. on Aug. 1, 2014 when a then 16-year-old driver of a BMW struck and killed Immanuel Sinnadurai who was riding his bike.

Sinnadurai was a 17-year-old student at Lester B. Pearson Collegiate Institute in Scarborough.

The BMW driver, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded guilty a year ago to dangerous driving while street racing and causing death, Crown attorney Susan Lee told the Star.

He received a 10- month sentence, including seven to be served in custody, and a five-year driving ban.

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At Vaz’s just completed trial, there was no evidence from any witnesses, nor expert opinion, of what happened along an 873-metre straight stretch of roadway on Sheppard leading to the intersection at Neilson Rd.

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“This is a significant lack of evidence,” the judge said. There was evidence Vaz knew the BMW driver.

A Toronto police collision reconstruction expert testified the BMW driver was travelling 130 kilometres per hour, and Vaz just under 99 km/h, far exceeding the speed limit of 60, Nakatsuru said, summarizing the evidence.

Nakasuru says surveillance video showed the two cars “appear to be moving faster than any other cars” but “this is a relatively short period of time to observe” them.

And other than speeding, there is no evidence of other aberrant driving, such as unsafe lane changes. “There is no other aggressive driving . . . The vehicles were in their lanes, the Honda was behind the BMW but was not tailgating,” the judge said.

Vaz’s act of speeding was “not acceptable but does not depart in a marked way from a standard of care expected in this situation,” Nakatsuru said. “The Crown therefore failed to prove the essential element of fault to the offence of dangerous driving beyond a reasonable doubt.”

After the verdict, Sinnadurai’s father looked shaken and declined to comment.

Lee, the crown attorney, called the decision disappointing “because for the family it’s very important that the persons who were racing be held accountable.”

She added legislation needs to change because it is very difficult to prove street racing.