A RUTHERFORD man who lost control of his car on a sweeping right hand bend and caused a crash that killed his best mate, father-of-three Luke Cooke, has pleaded guilty in Newcastle Local Court.
Jamie Fogg, 33, was represented by criminal defence lawyer Drew Hamilton when he appeared in court on Wednesday and pleaded guilty to dangerous driving occasioning death.
According to court documents, Fogg and Mr Cooke were in Fogg's blue Ford Ranger and heading north on Anambah Road about 9pm on November 7 last year.
The pair, who were the only two occupants of the vehicle, were driving from Rutherford to Anambah to get firewood.
But crash investigators said as Fogg was rounding a sweeping right hand bend, about 1.5 kilometres north of Niven Parade, his vehicle left the road, travelling along a grass shoulder for about 12 metres before colliding with a guardrail.
The force of the collision tore the guardrail out of the ground and the vehicle travelled over the railing for about 40 metres, resulting in Mr Cooke being thrown from the vehicle.
He died at the scene. Fogg will next appear in Newcastle District Court next month to get a sentence date.
