A WANGARATTA man has pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of his brother and cousin while driving at excessive speeds under the influence on Greta Road in Wangaratta last year.

The 25-year-old appeared at Melbourne County Court on Friday to formally plead guilty to two counts of culpable driving causing death stemming from the April 9, 2023 crash.

The court heard the defendant was driving at a speed in excess of 170kph when he lost control on a bend and his vehicle rolled and hit a tree, immediately taking the life of his 26-year-old cousin, with his 16-year-old brother suffering injuries he died from six days later.

Another 24-year-old cousin was also in the vehicle and sustained non-life threatening injuries.

The defendant also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence at the time of the incident, giving a blood alcohol reading of 0.079 within three hours after the crash.

The court heard multiple impact statements from the defendant's cousin's family, who were visiting them in Wangaratta over the Easter weekend.

The brother of the 26-year-old victim said he wasn’t just a brother to him, but a best friend and a father figure, and while he may have physically recovered from the crash, his mental scars may never heal.

“Only dealing with his passing is realising what we truly had,” he said.

"I can only pray you (defendant) are remorseful for your actions and what you’ve taken away from not only my family, but yours.

“It is through my Christian spirit that I forgive you because that’s what Jesus would do.”

The sister of the deceased 26-year-old was the first person to arrive at the scene of the crash, and said she remembered staring at the horrific scene for hours, struggling to come to terms with what happened.

“Twenty-six years were gone in less than a minute… my heart shattered into a thousand pieces,” she said

“(My brother) was the father in our family… in less than a minute you were impressed by his care for others.”

The court heard the deceased was to be the best man at his sister's wedding in the month of the fatal crash.

The court also heard the families enjoyed church, barbecues and various activities while together over the Easter weekend.

On Easter Sunday, the defendant admitted to drinking on the day of the incident, speaking “with pride” about the features of his new white Jeep Chereoke SRT, which he said was a high-performance vehicle with a 475 horsepower V8 engine.

He took off in the vehicle with his three passengers at around 7pm, with dashcam footage capturing his sister waving the group goodbye.

From their home address, the vehicle travelled south on Wangaratta-Whitfield Road before going onto Clarkes Lane, at a speed of 152km/h.

The vehicle was then caught at 223km/h on Greta Road as they left town.

Performing a three-point turn at a driveway, the defendant accelerated heavily back towards Wangaratta, with a speed of 246km/h displayed on the dashboard.

Going back past the Clarkes Lane intersection, the car was travelling at 225km/h as it approached the bend.

“We’re going too fast for that bend,” the defendant's younger brother said, moments before the vehicle lost control, careening 160 metres into a paddock after crossing Greta Road’s centre line and clipping a tree.

“It was like being on ice,” a passenger recalled of the incident.

A man in an oncoming car and a nearby resident called emergency services and raced to assist as they saw the extensively damaged Jeep resting on its roof.

Police investigations showed across the four and a half kilometres of driving, the vehicle was going at an average speed of 202km/h.

When police arrived at the incident, the defendant said he was going at around 120km/h around the bend and “lost it”.

He said he had two bourbouns at lunch that day and another bourboun at around 3pm.

The court heard the deceased's mother broke into tears recalling the loss of her “small in stature, but giant-hearted” son.

“My heart really is broken for my whole family, as we will never get over losing someone with so much potential,” she said.

“We love you and we will miss you always.”

Defence counsel Peter Morrissey said his client apologised deeply for the pain felt by both families.

“He can't make it right, but he'll just strive as best he can," he said.

Mr Morrissey said his client wasn’t thrill seeking and hadn’t executed any dangerous manoeuvres, but was "besotted" with his vehicle and focused on its performance.

The court heard the defendant was experiencing PTSD and survivors guilt and had shown good character through multiple character references from family, friends and a former school principal.

Mr Morrissey said there was strong evidence of remorse shown.

“He’s really sorry, and it’s going to guide him to be a better person in the future,” he said.

The defence argued for a term of imprisonment in the range of 15 months and two years, while crown prosecutor John Dickie made a case for an imprisonment in the range of the standard term for culpable driving causing death of eight years.

The court heard the maximum penalty of imprisonment for culpable driving causing death is 20 years.

Judge Sarah Leighfield acknowledged the “incredible” forgiveness shown by those affected by the incident, as she considers sentencing on August 7.

Judge Leighfield told the court there was no option other than a term of imprisonment for several years.

The defendant revoked his own bail on Monday at the County Court, admitting him to Port Phillip Prison.