Updated 6.50am
IRISH MAN BARRY Lyttle has been granted bail by a court in Sydney after being charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm having allegedly punching his younger brother, leaving him with life-threatening injuries.
The judge put in place strict bail conditions, according to The Irish Echo Newspaper, which include Lyttle surrendering his passport, as well as not approaching his brother after drinking alcohol.
His brother, 31-year-old Patrick Lyttle, is in a condition described as “critical but stable” by police after he underwent emergency surgery yesterday morning.
The incident happened at around 3am Saturday – just three days after 33-year-old Barry arrived in Sydney with his father to visit his younger brother who had been travelling around the country for the last six months.
“One-punch”
New South Wales police say officers were called to Bayswater Road in Sydney after reports of an assault in which one man punched another in the head, causing him to fall on the footpath.
It is reported that he underwent surgery to release pressure on his brain.
This is how Australian media reported the incident:
The Sydney Morning Herald reported that alcohol was not found to be a factor in the incident, with Superintendent Michael Fitzgerald describing it as “family tragedy that has happened to occur on our streets”.
The Herald said that because his drunkenness “didn’t meet the legal threshold”, Lyttle will escape a mandatory minimum sentence.
Fitzgerald said the men’s 74-year-old father was in shock and “it is quite evident that this resulted from a minor argument.”
It is understood the three men had been out for dinner when the brothers decided to go for a drink. The superintendent added:
This was caused by one punch and we now have a father who is facing the reality of one son facing serious criminal charges and another son fighting for his life.
- Additional reporting Aoife Barry, Michelle Hennessy, Christina Finn
First published 03/01/15
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