A South Coast man accused of running over and killing two friends as they lay on the road allegedly had a blood alcohol level almost twice the legal limit.
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Nathan Bernhard, 27, of McMahons Road, faced Nowra Local Court on Thursday, charged with dangerous driving occasioning death, negligent driving occasioning death and middle-range drink driving following an incident on Condie Crescent in North Nowra the night before.
The statement said police were told the men had been lying on the road when they were run over by a man driving a ute.
Bystanders rendered first aid until paramedics arrived, however both men died at the scene.
Bernhard allegedly returned a blood alcohol level of 0.09 after he was taken to hospital for mandatory testing.
Police evidence to the court said Bernhard had allegedly been drinking with the two men who died and when he left the premises he performed a three-point turn before driving over the men who were lying on the road.
Defence solicitor Brett Ford said the deceased men "put themselves in a position where he [Bernhard] would never expect them to be".
"He told police he hadn't seen them before impact, and that's why there's no evasive action," Magistrate Geraldine Beattie noted in her summary of the evidence presented to her.
Prosecutor Ray Kingston argued against bail, saying there was a strong prosecution case including part of the incident being captured on CCTV.
He also said the site was only 1.1km from Berhard's home, equating to just a 14 minute walk.
"He would have known after consuming that much alcohol, and the alcohol he's admitted to drinking, that he would have been under the influence and should not have got behind the wheel of that vehicle," Mr Kingston said.
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Ms Beattie accepted Bernhard had strong community ties and a limited criminal record with no history of violence.
She also said as some of the charges were strictly indictable, there was a lengthy legal process to go through which could take a year before reaching trial.
That was a long time for a person who had never before been in custody to wait in jail, Ms Beattie said, before granting conditional bail.
Conditions including not being behind the driver's wheel of any car - even one that is parked with the engine turned off.
Bernhard broke down in tears and thanked Ms Beattie.
Earlier he had been shaking so badly he was unable to stand when Ms Beattie asked.
No pleas were entered and the case is due to return to court on Wednesday, August 9.
