Irish man Patrick Lyttle, who was seriously injured when allegedly struck by his brother Barry in Sydney in January, has today called for the prosecution to be dropped.
Barry Lyttle, 33, is charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm to Patrick in an incident in the Kings Cross entertainment district of the city in the early hours of January 3rd.
Speaking to reporters outside Downing Centre Local Court, Patrick Lyttle, 31, said he loves his brother and wants “to go home” to Ballycastle, Co Antirm.
He is currently living in a rehabilitation facility in the northern Sydney suburb of Ryde.
"You don't just get better and go home. Especially with injuries to the brain there is a lot of rehabilitation involved," David Faktor, public affairs manager at St Vincent's Hospital, told The Irish Times.
Wearing a suit and a beanie hat that hides his head scars, Patrick Lyttle walked from the court with his brother and their parents. “I’m very well at the moment thanks, very well,” he said.
“We’re just hoping that in a couple of weeks’ time this can all get a whole lot better and we can all go home as a family.”
Asked if he supported his brother, Patrick Lyttle said: “Of course, why wouldn’t I be? He’s my brother.”
He said he wanted the charges against his brother to be dropped. “We love each other to bits. It was an accident,” he said, adding that it was “not a matter for a court”.
After the alleged assault by his brother, Mr Lyttle was taken to the nearby St Vincent’s Hospital and after surgery was on life support for six days before regaining consciousness.
On February 5th he walked out of St Vincent’s with his girlfriend Maria McCaffrey, his brother, his sister Karen McHugh and their father Oliver.
Barry Lyttle’s lawyer told the court that Patrick would not experience any lasting effects from attack, and that they expected this to be confirmed by a neurological report.
The case against Barry Lyttle has been adjourned until March 19th.
