Tamworth man to stand trial on dangerous driving charges after double-fatal crash on Thunderbolts Way, Nowendoc in September 2020

The accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, formally entered pleas to the two charges against him when he appeared virtually in Tamworth District Court on Monday.

The man is alleged to have been behind the wheel of a Nissan Pathfinder four-wheel-drive when it collided with an oncoming sedan, killing a child and an older woman.

He faces charges of two counts of dangerous driving occasioning death.

The man replied "not guilty, Your Honour", to each of the allegations on his indictment as they were read out in court.

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The accused will stand trial in the district court, but a date hasn't been set down because defence barrister Steven Doupe told Judge Deborah Payne some more discussions needed to be had.

He said the defence team, as well as Crown prosecutors, needed to put their "heads together" and work out an estimate for how much time would need to be set aside for the trial.

"I wouldn't be comfortable at this stage suggesting how many days it might take," Mr Doupe told the court.

He said he anticipated there would be a defence case to be called in the trial, which would likely present expert evidence and could take a substantial amount of time.

Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) solicitor Max Dixon agreed to hold off on setting a date, but urged the court not to adjourn for too long as it would further delay the trial.

"The further things go into the future, the later it will be," he said.

Judge Payne agreed to adjourn the case to later this month for a date to be set.

"No change in bail status," she said.

The court heard the trial would likely be scheduled for next year.

The police case is that the Tamworth man was driving the four-wheel-drive Nissan on Thunderbolts Way, near Nowendoc, when it crashed into an oncoming sedan on the afternoon of September 26, last year.

Some details of the case cannot be reported for legal reasons.

The man was charged in the days after the car crash.

The allegations he will face at trial relate to the deaths of a young girl, who was a backseat passenger in the Nissan, and a woman aged in her 70s, who was the driver and sole occupant of the sedan.

Both tragically died from their critical injuries.

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