VANCOUVER — The realtor who pleaded guilty for careless driving over the 2016 crash that killed cyclist Bradley Dean is now blaming the victim for the accident in a civil case.

Michael Wing Sing Fan had taken the wheel without getting any sleep after being out all night – first at a party and then at a casino – before crossing the centre line on Richmond’s River Road and plowing into a group of cyclists.

But in a response to a civil claim filed by Dean’s family against the driver, his mother Debbie Lai – the car involved in the crash –, and Starlight Casino in New Westminster, Fan is blaming the cyclist for the crash.

“The Accident and any alleged injury, loss, damage or expenses resulting thereby occurred without negligence on the part of the defendants, and occurred solely as a result of, or was contributed to by, the negligence of Bradley Andrew Dean, deceased and/or the Casino Defendants and the defendants are under no liability to the plaintiffs therefore,” reads the response to the civil action filed by defendants Fan and Lai.

The defendants also claim that the plaintiffs – Adele Esnault-Oka, who learned she was pregnant a day after Dean’s, their infant daughter – “could have reduced the amount of any alleged injury, loss, damage or expense, and the defendants say that the plaintiffs failed to mitigate their damages.”

A judge had previously handed Fan an $1,800 fine and a one year driving probation after the Crown decided to charge the driver under the provincial Motor Vehicle Act instead of the Criminal Code much to the dismay of Dean’s family.

Real Estate Council of BC records show that Fan is a licensed realtor at RA Realty Alliance Inc. brokerage in Burnaby.