An Irish tourist accused of punching his brother in the head during an argument at Kings Coss will have to wait another week to learn whether the charge against him will be downgraded following his brother's apparently miraculous recovery.
Barry Lyttle, 33, allegedly punched his 31-year-old brother Patrick in the head following a minor disagreement about at 3am on January 3 as they stood on Bayswater Road, sending Patrick falling backwards where he hit his head on the footpath.
Patrick underwent surgery and was placed on life support at St Vincent's Hospital.
He spent a week in a coma before making a sudden improvement in mid-January, much to the delight of his brother, father and four sisters.
Patrick Lyttle now says he wants the charges against his brother to be dropped and the pair have attended court together over the past three months as Barry's solicitor negotiates with prosecutors in a bid to have the charge of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm downgraded.
The Lyttle family came to court on Thursday hoping to learn Barry's fate, but the prosecutor said that he had just received new evidence from police, which he needed to examine before making a decision.
Speaking outside court, Barry Lyttle's solicitor, Christopher Watson, said this evidence consisted of medical reports showing that Patrick Lyttle had recovered fully from his injuries and would experience no long-term effects.
Patrick Lyttle, who was not wearing the beanie which has covered his head on previous occasions, said he had made a "full recovery" and repeated his previous desire for the matter to be dealt with quickly so that "we can all just go home".
The case will return to court on April 16.
