Irish man Barry Lyttle has been given a 13-months suspended jail sentence for assaulting his brother Patrick in Sydney on January 3rd.

He is now free to return to Ireland, despite prosecutor Alex Poulos having called for a full-time custodial sentence.

Magistrate Graeme Curran took 45 minutes to read his 19-page decision. At one point while doing so there was an audible gasp from a supporter of the Lyttle family when Mr Curran mentioned a possible jail term.

He said that Lyttle had come to the attention of the authorities before. “A report from Interpol indicates that some years ago the defendant was, on two occasions, the subject of cautions but no criminal convictions,” said Mr Curran.

Barry and Patrick Lyttle, along with their father Oliver, sat behind their barrister, Chris Watson, as the decision was read.

As the details of the assault on his brother were read out, Barry Lyttle began to cry. Patrick Lyttle (31) put his arm around him and left it there for the duration of the decision.

Barry Lyttle (33) has previously pleaded guilty to recklessly causing grievous bodily harm after punching his brother during a night out in Sydney’s Kings Cross entertainment district.

Patrick Lyttle was taken to the nearby St Vincent’s Hospital and, following surgery, was on life support for six days before regaining consciousness.

Australia's Director of Public Prosecutions v Barry Lyttle

In a victim impact statement Patrick Lyttle told the court: “It has been an awful ordeal for me but everyone can see it has been for Barry too.”

He said his father Oliver’s health had suffered during the four months he has been in Australia.

“He doesn’t want to go home without his two sons … When my family is healed I will be healed,” he said. “Victims often want to see deterrence. But everyone can see how much my brother has suffered.”

In his judgment, Mr Curran said, “the actions of the defendant were reckless in punching the complainant to the head area”. But he added that “subjective deterrence is not a major purpose to be satisfied in the circumstances of this case”.

“In my view, given what I have said as to his good character and his realisation and acceptance of responsibility for his actions at an early stage, I would conclude that protection of the community from this offender and his rehabilitation are also not major considerations,” said Mr Curran.

The magistrate also said there had been an element of provocation by Patrick Lyttle prior to his being struck by his brother.

“The actions of the complainant in the short time before the event giving rise to the charge, was such as not to give rise to self-defence, as indicated by the plea, but are at least, in my view, sufficient to amount to provocation,” he said.

“His actions immediately before the hit by the defendant could, in insolation without the reaction of the defendant, be considered as sufficient to constitute an assault upon the defendant, albeit a minor one. If the defendant had fallen over he may well have been seriously injured.”

Mr Curran noted representations had been made on Lyttle’s behalf by SDLP leader Alistair McDonnell, Sinn Féin MP Paul Maskey and others.

Summing up, the magistrate said: “After consideration of all issues, the circumstances of this case persuade me that this is such a case that is appropriate to be dealt with by way of a suspended sentence.

“This, of course, will be predicated upon the defendant entering into a good behaviour bond for a period of the sentence, namely 13 months,” said Mr Curran.

He said an 18-months term would have been appropriate, but there was a 25 per cent discount given for Lyttle’s guilty plea.

Speaking to The Irish Times and other media outside the Downing Centre Court, Mr Watson said Barry Lyttle was going to retrieve his passport, which he had surrendered as part of his bail conditions.

The brothers embraced on the court steps. Patrick Lyttle said “I’m delighted with my recovery”, while Barry Lyttle said “We’ve made a big mistake and we’ve paid the price for it.”