Irish man allegedly struck by brother comes out of coma

An Irish man allegedly knocked unconscious by his brother in Sydney last weekend has come out of a coma.

Barry Lyttle (33) allegedly punched his brother Patrick (31) in the Kings Cross entertainment region of the city at around 3am local time on Saturday (4pm Friday, Irish time).

Patrick Lyttle, from Ballycastle, Co Antrim had been in a coma in St Vincent's Hospital since then but regained consciousness on Friday morning.

Hospital spokesman David Faktor said though Mr Lyttle remained in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), his condition was stable. "He's conscious … He's been taken off life-support. He's sitting-up," he said.

Mr Faktor said he would remain in the ICU for a few more days.

Barry Lyttle has since uploaded a photo to Facebook of the brothers and their father celebrating New Year’s Eve in Sydney.

Patrick Lyttle had been backpacking around Australia since last June and had met Barry and their father Oliver (74) in Sydney three days before the incident.

One line of inquiry being pursued by Police investigating the incident is that Barry allegedly hit Patrick in the face, causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement.

After being taken to the nearby St Vincent’s Hospital, Patrick had emergency surgery to remove part of his skull to release pressure on the brain.

In Sydney’s Central Local Court on Tuesday, Barry was granted bail on the condition he surrender his passport, provide a AUS$2,000 (€1,378) surety and not approach his brother within 12 hours of consuming alcohol.

Under New South Wales law there is a mandatory minimum sentence of four years in jail for assaults where a high level of alcohol is involved.

For this law to apply there has to be a blood alcohol reading of 0.15 or more, three times the legal driving limit in the state.

But the mandatory minimum sentence will not be applicable in this case, as Barry Lyttle’s blood alcohol reading was less than 0.079.

Barry Lyttle is due back in court on January 20th.