A man has pleaded guilty to killing a 17-year-old girl by failing to go to her aid and watching her drown after she fell into the sea off the Kent coast.
Michael Bowditch, 21, was due to stand trial this week after denying he murdered college student Becky Morgan, who was found dead off Broadstairs last year.
But Bowditch, of Prestedge Avenue, Ramsgate, admitted manslaughter in a hearing at Maidstone Crown Court, which was accepted by the Crown in front of Judge Jeremy Carey.
Police were called to the Port of Ramsgate at 5am on May 1 amid concerns for the welfare of a girl, and Becky's body was recovered two and a half miles away.
Prosecutor Simon Taylor told a packed court the pair had met the night before at a birthday party before going to the Harbour Arm in Ramsgate.
Mr Taylor said: "By the basis of plea, Mr Bowditch accepts that although he cannot say exactly how Becky Morgan came to fall into the sea, once she fell in he failed to take any steps to try to assist her.
"It is the failure to take any steps to prevent Miss Morgan's death after she fell into the sea which forms the basis of his culpability for manslaughter."