A 21-year-old man has been found not guilty of the attempted murder of a Corkman in Sydney.
Thomas Isaako (21), was charged with the attempted murder of David Keohane in Brooks Street, Coogee, in the early hours of August 9th, 2008.
Mr Keohane, from Ballyvolane, Cork, was later found unconscious in a pool of blood. He was in a coma for seven months before waking up on St Patrick’s Day last year after having been repatriated to Ireland on September 15th, 2008.
Isaako and another man were alleged to have beaten Mr Keohane, then 29, so severely that virtually every bone in his face was fractured. They also allegedly stole his wallet.
Isaako has already pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated robbery and assault occasioning grievous bodily harm arising from the incident.
NSW District Court had heard the two men had been drinking and smashing car windows with a pole as they walked along the street. They met Mr Keohane, who was returning home with a pizza, and decided to attack him.
The court heard Isaako had thrown "four or five" punches and his companion "eight or nine".
Judge Ron Soloman had said in his summing up that the jury had to be satisfied that Isaako had inflicted grievous bodily harm with intent to kill Mr Keohane.
He said there was no direct evidence of intent to kill, so the jury, in order to find Isaako guilty, would have to draw an inference from the established facts, being the number, or force, of the blows.
Judge Soloman said that, if the jury were to find Isaako guilty of attempted murder, it had to be satisfied that the only reasonable inference was that he intended to kill Mr Keohane.
He said that evidence of intoxication could be taken into account in deciding whether Isaako had a specific intent.
If the jury found that Isaako's companion had formed the intent to kill, the judge said, then Isaako could be found guilty on the grounds that the two had participated in a joint criminal enterprise.
Yesterday, the jury handed a note to Judge Soloman stating they were unable to reach a verdict. However, Judge Soloman has asked them to continue their deliberations.
The jury returned a not guilty verdict to the attempted murder charge last night.
Police said outside the court that a warrant for the second man's arrest was still outstanding.