Driver guilty of causing crash at New Lambton Heights that killed girl, 9

The Adamstown man, now, 26, who was in a relationship with the girl's mother, immediately got out of the car on McCaffrey Drive on August 13 last year and began "blaming the collision on an argument he was having with [his partner]", according to an agreed statement of facts.

"I was distracted," the man told police at the scene. "I was talking to my partner. I was distracted. I veered slightly to the right side of the road. I pulled back in too quickly and lost control of the car..."

The man, who the Newcastle Herald has chosen not to name to avoid identifying the young girl, had earlier that day been at nearby John Hunter Hospital with the girl and her mother and was "irritated" by how long they had spent there.

They then had to leave after receiving a call that the man's dog had bitten a family member and were on their way to Elermore Vale when the man lost control of the car and crashed.

The young girl, who was in the back left passenger seat, suffered critical injuries and died. Her mother suffered a fractured spine and ribs and a lacerated spleen.

The man underwent a blood test which revealed a positive reading for cannabis in a concentration "strongly suggestive of very recent use", most likely within four to six hours.

But the reading was not high enough to establish that the man's driving would have been impaired at the time of the crash.

The man, who is represented by solicitor Kate Maher, had his matter mentioned in Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death, dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and driving with an illicit drug present in his system.

Two other negligent driving charges were withdrawn.

The man, who remains on bail, will next appear in Newcastle District Court on May 21 to get a sentence date.