A Victorian man accused of unintentionally killing his ex-partner's son in a tree-felling incident initially told police he thought he was "doing the right thing" when he chopped the tree down, a court has heard.
The trial of Joshua George Hector Clark is coming to an end, with the Crown and defence closing their cases on Thursday afternoon.
Mr Clark was charged with one count of manslaughter in 2017, roughly two years after the incident.
The court earlier heard that he, his partner Sierra Lynd and her three children were on a "wood-hooking" trip in Mount Lloyd in Southern Tasmania in August 2015 when the tree Mr Clark was cutting fell, crushing the ute and killing 7-year-old Akira Carroll.
The defence claims that during this trip, Mr Clark only intended to collect firewood on the ground – "the rubbish no one wanted".
He did, however, decide to cut down a tree that was leaning against another tree.
The Crown claimed he was in a rush because he had promised to deliver firewood to someone by 4pm and this influenced his actions.
Crown prosecutor Heather Denton told the jury that Mr Clark wanted to chop down this tree for firewood.
However, Mr Clark's lawyer, Kim Baumeler, insisted that Mr Clark wanted to chop down the tree because he believed it was dangerous.
He told police the same thing in his first interview, which was conducted roughly 12 hours after the incident.
In the interview played to the jury on Thursday morning, Mr Clark told police he stopped when he spotted the tree because he was worried it was dangerous and could fall on the road.
"I just thought it was dangerous for everyone, people driving along the road, people in the public," he told police in 2015.
"I really thought I was doing the right thing by putting it down. Safer for everyone."
He repeatedly said throughout the interview that he should've left the tree "hanging".
'It fell because of the things he did'
In her closing address, Crown prosecutor Ms Denton drew on the evidence from a retired WorkSafe inspector who viewed the site the day after the incident and told the court the tree had not been cut properly, meaning Mr Clark had no control of where it fell.
"This was not a tree simply falling in a random direction," Ms Denton told the jury.
"It fell because of the things he did and the things he did wrong.
"The way he cut the tree made him culpably negligent."
She also argued that a reasonable person would have never parked the car as close to the tree as he did.
'I look at them as my own kids'
But Ms Baumeler said it was clear he cared about Ms Lynd and her three children and would not have put them in harm's way.
As evidence, she pointed to his obvious distress throughout the trial, which had to finish early on the first day because he was too upset to continue.
The jury also heard him profess his love for Akira in the first police interview.
"I love him … I love him so much," he told police in August 2015.
"They're my kids. I look at them as my own kids."
Ms Baumeler argued that Mr Clark's conduct on that day did not amount to criminal negligence and asked the jury if they really wanted to label him a criminal - a sentiment not too different from what Mr Clark first said to police.
"I know what I'm doing," he told them in August 2015.
"This was just a f***ing freak accident."
The jury will begin deliberations on Friday.
