Fatal crash car was doing 150km/h: witness

The witness said he was sitting in the back seat with two girls who died and another teen who was injured, but the defence claims that it was the witness who was behind the wheel before midnight on January 12, 2011.

Another man, who was 17 at the time of the crash, is accused of being the driver and has previously pleaded not guilty to two counts of manslaughter, two alternative counts of dangerous driving occasioning death and one count of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.

The witness told Newcastle District Court on Friday of how he and some friends drove to Lochinvar earlier in the night before picking up the two girls at Maitland train station.

They went back to a home and drank beer before they went for another drive.

There were six teens in the car when the witness said they pulled into an East Maitland petrol station.

He admitted that they planned to steal petrol by driving off without paying and that he was nominated as the person to work the bowser.

He said he took his shirt off and put a cap on to mask his identity, but an attendant told him that they could not get fuel without paying first.

The witness admitted under cross-examination that he had not included the visit to the petrol station in his first police statement because he didn’t want anyone to know about the plans to do a ‘‘petrol run’’.

He also said in his statement that one of the other teens drove from the train station to the home earlier in the night, but he told the court that the accused drove that journey.

The witness denied that he was the driver at the time of the crash off Raymond Terrace Road and he could not recall a series of conversations with other witnesses that were put to him by defence barrister Alissa Moen.

He also denied running away from the crash site to avoid speaking to police.

The trial before Judge Penelope Hock will continue on Monday.