Edward Matthews, 35, was killed when he swerved and fell from the dirt bike he was riding to avoid another dirt bike ridden by his best mate Jason Munday, 37, near Kyabram on New Year’s Day in 2015.

But speaking as a witness in court, Mr Matthews’ former partner told the court she “never blamed” Munday for the fatal incident, while Munday’s partner said they “would do anything to bring him back”.

Munday pleaded guilty in the County Court in Bendigo on Tuesday to dangerous driving causing death.

The court heard the two men had shared an inseparable friendship since primary school, and were together at Matthews’ property on Andrews Road on New Year’s Eve, 2014, sharing drinks with family and friends.

Along with another man, they rode three unregistered dirt bikes in a paddock during the evening.

Just after midnight, they decided to take the bikes out onto the road in front of the property, six kilometres from Kyabram.

Munday rode a 125 CC dirt bike, while Matthews’ bike was 50 CC. It was pitch black, neither of the bikes had headlights, there were no street lights, and the men were not wearing helmets.

Mr Matthews looped around at the driveway, and set back out onto Andrews Road. The two men were riding straight towards each other, the court heard, when the incident occurred.

Mr Matthews was found a metre from the bike, unconscious and bleeding from the head. Munday also fell from his bike, but suffered minor injuries.

Police reconstructed the incident and found the two men had swerved in the same direction, while a forensic analysis found Munday’s blood-alcohol reading was between 0.049 and 0.087, and Mr Matthews’ was 0.065 and 0.110.

Munday has not had alcohol since the incident, the court heard.

Called as a witness, Munday’s partner told the court the two men “were like brothers”.

“Uncle Eddie, he was part of our family,” she said.

“We would do anything to bring him back.”

The former partner of Mr Matthews also gave evidence, saying she had forgiven Munday for the incident.

“It’s not fair. They were both adults, they both decided to go out on the motorbikes,” she said.

“He would never have thought that this could happen.

“I never blamed him. I would always forgive him.”

Judge Jane Patrick said it was a tragic situation, but Munday could still be sent to jail.

“This offending is an absolute tragedy, from an inherently dangerous activity,” she said.

“To ride off-road bikes up and down the road at night, with no lights, the moon lighting was even dim that night I understand – this kind of terrible thing can happen.

“How do we get the message out so that none of the children here end up in this situation?”

Munday was assessed for a community corrections order, and will be sentenced in the Bendigo County Court on Wednesday morning.