Man pleads guilty to charges after Lake Keepit boat tragedy

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was flanked by family members when he appeared in Tamworth Local Court on Wednesday and entered guilty pleas to two new charges.

Police prosecutor Sergeant John Brissett told the court the police would be withdrawing one charge of operating a recreational vessel negligently and causing the death or grievous bodily harm of the two teenagers, and instead pushing ahead with two separate charges for each of the victims.

Sergeant Brissett also said the state prosecutor would not be taking on the case, and it would remain with the police in the local court.

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"The DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) will not be electing," he said.

The man's defence solicitor formally entered guilty pleas to both charges, which each carry a maximum penalty of two years behind bars.

The charges come after a 13-year-old and 14-year-old girl were killed when the biscuit they were being towed on collided with a submerged tree at Lake Keepit on December 27, 2022.

The man pleaded guilty to two counts of negligently operating the ski boat between 4pm and 4:15pm at Rushes Creek, about an hour from Tamworth, causing the deaths.

Agreed police facts show the man was driving the ski boat when the two girls were sitting on a triangle biscuit behind the boat.

One other person, who was watching the teenagers, was also on the boat at the time of the accident.

The ski boat was about 20 metres from old dead trees, which were sticking out of the water when the boat started going over a number of wakes, which had been created by another ski boat.

The biscuit started bouncing on the wakes and sliding towards the submerged trees, before colliding with a large tree sticking out of the water.

The girls were thrown from the biscuit and were laying motionless in the water.

The man, and the other person in the boat, drove the girls back to the Ski Gardens Caravan Park where members of the public desperately tried to revive the two girls as paramedics rushed to the scene.

In court, the man's solicitor said he had no criminal record, and the "awful situation" had taken a toll on him.

Magistrate Julie Soars adjourned the matter, and ordered a sentencing assessment report for the man.

She said the boating tragedy had resulted in "serious repercussions".

"I need to give it appropriate time, and the weight it needs on sentence," Ms Soars said.

The matter will return to court in September for sentencing.

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