AN AUSTRALIAN COURT was today show this CCTV footage of the moment an Irish man punched his brother so hard he was placed on life support.
Barry Lyttle has pleaded guilty in Sydney to recklessly causing grievous bodily harm to his younger brother Patrick in the one-punch attack.
The video shows the brothers jostling outside a nightclub before Patrick, 31, shoves his 33-year-old brother. Barry responds with a single punch, causing his sibling’s head to hit the ground. Barry, obviously in distress, rushes to help his brother.
Patrick was in a coma for a brief period but made what was described as a “fantastic recovery” and was released from hospital.
He has since expressed his wishes that the charges against Barry be dropped and attended court with him over the past number of months.
Today, he pleaded with the court not to jail his brother.
“When my family is healed I will be healed,” the Sydney Morning Herald quotes him as saying.
“Victims often want to see deterrence. But everyone can see how much my brother has suffered.”
However, prosecutor Alex Poulos argued for a custodial sentence.
The magistrate Graeme Curran said that the only alternative to that was a suspended sentence, which might be difficult to enforce because Lyttle lives in Ireland. The matter returns to court next Friday.
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