Student, 19, pleads guilty to making threats in UBC lockdowns

metro vancouver - A 19-year-old University of B.C. student who was a math and biology whiz in high school has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from two campus lockdowns at ubc last winter.

Hwi Lee, a first-year science student at ubc and a former high school student at Gleneagle secondary in Coquitlam, was charged with uttering threats and mischief.

Police took control of ubc's Biosciences building twice within a week after receiving threats.
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On Jan. 30, RCMP were called about a threat affecting students, faculty and staff in the building. Police locked down and evacuated the building.

On Feb. 6, a second threat was made to ubc, less specific on time and location than the first. The Biosciences building was closed for the day.

Lee was arrested in early March and charged with two counts of uttering threats and two counts of mischief. He pleaded guilty to one count of each on Wednesday; the other charges were stayed.

Shortly after he was charged in early March, gleneagle school officials described Lee, who graduated from the Coquitlam high school in 2007, as a "talented and hard-working student while here."

According to a Gleneagle newsletter in October 2006, Lee scored 97 per cent on his biology 12 provincial exam. He also participated in the 39th annual canadian mathematical olympiad in 2007 and won academic scholarships.

The maximum sentence for uttering threats is one year in jail.

Lee's sentencing is set for Sept. 23 in richmond provincial court.

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Saturday, July 05, 2008 |

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