The family of a teenager allegedly responsible for a fatal car crash received "death threats", a court has heard.
On Tuesday, the 14-year-old escaped having his conditional freedom revoked after the ACT Children's Court heard he had breached one of his strict bail conditions.
"Time for you at the moment is precious," magistrate James Stewart told the teenager, who cannot be named due to his age.
"You can't afford to be missing out on school. Education is the best way for you to dig yourself out of this hole."
The boy is yet to enter pleas to charges of culpable driving causing death, culpable driving causing grievous bodily harm, and driving a motor vehicle without consent.
The allegations relate to a January Barton Highway crash that killed a 19-year-old and left another young passenger "in a significantly impaired condition" after having initially been in a coma.
The court heard the alleged driver had breached his bail conditions by interacting with the third passenger, another 14-year-old boy who was not seriously injured in the crash.
On Tuesday, prosecutor David Swan said the accused teenager had breached the condition not to speak with prosecution witnesses "in a very clear and unambiguous way".
The magistrate said the boy initially avoided the 14-year-old passenger, but eventually stopped doing so and even began saying hello to him at school despite the contact ban.
The breach, which sent the alleged offender back to court, involved him seeking out the possible witness in a classroom, engaging with him momentarily against his wishes and possibly making references to drugs.
"I think it speaks to not menacing conduct but persistent conduct that would rattle a potential witness, particularly one who is a child," Mr Stewart said.
"It appears to be a pattern of an intention to make contact with this other young person where we now know that contact is unwelcome."
The accused teenager is now banned from attending that school.
He allegedly drove a stolen Toyota Avalon through a red light on the Barton Highway earlier this year, colliding with a Toyota Hilux.
The boy was not injured and the Hilux passengers received treatment but were "otherwise unscathed".
"I'm going to jail, I've just killed my mate," a witness who attended the late night crash scene heard a juvenile say words to the effect of. It is not clear if the words were spoken by the alleged offender.
The magistrate ultimately refused the prosecution's application to revoke bail, noting the best interest of the boy was the court's primary consideration.
However, he gave the alleged offender a direct warning.
Mr Stewart said if there was any suggestion he tried to contact other people involved in the case, "I think your chances of being bail refused are very high".
"That means months and months and months in custody," the magistrate said.
The case is set to return to court in May
