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Barry and Patrick Lyttle
Ballycastle backpacker Paddy Lyttle funded his Australian adventure with compensation from a barroom attack in Northern Ireland.
The 31-year-old suffered serious facial injuries on a night a number of years ago when he was ‘glassed’ during an altercation at an unnamed nightclub.
Friends of the Co. Antrim revealed to the Sunday World that he almost lost the sight in one eye as a result.
His attacker, who was known to him was successfully prosecuted and handed a hefty fine and cautioned.
It is understood he used funds from a compensation claim to pay for his dream trip Down Under. The tragic irony is that he was to suffer a serious injury after another night on the tiles.
Elder brother Barry 33, has been charged with GBH after he is alleged to have felled Paddy with a single punch after the pair had a falling out on a night out in the notorious Kings Cross area of Sydney.
This week, after almost a week in a coma and following brain surgery the injured Ulsterman regained consciousness raising hopes of a full recovery.
He has been in St Vincent’s Hospital since the incident 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.
The news will comes a huge relief to Barry who has been at his brother’s bedside with his father Oliver from the moment he was granted bail. And they have now been joined in Australia by Mr Lyttle’s four daughters.
Meanwhile back in Ballycastle a fund-raising drive has been launched to help the family meet medical and living costs as Paddy continues to recover.
Paddy had been backpacking around Australia since last June and had met Barry and their father Oliver 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 20.
richard.sullivan@nth.sundayworld.com