Daniel Byrne, 21, was found guilty of the 2011 attack on Timothy McCarthy, then 40, in the ACT Supreme Court yesterday, the Canberra Times reports.
Chilling CCTV footage shows the moment Byrne punched the Irishman outside a convenience store in the early hours of the morning only moments after Mr McCarthy had hugged his attacker.
The Irishman fell "like a plank" after the hit, head smashing into the concrete.
He was rushed to hospital with severe swelling in the brain while Byrne fled the scene on foot.
A neurosurgeon who treated Mr McCarthy said he would have died had he not received urgent medical treatment.
Despite the doctors best efforts it is believed Mr McCarthy, who has since returned to Ireland, had suffered permanent cognitive damage.
‘‘You can’t have an injury like this and be normal again," the neurosurgeon said.
Byrne was arrested the next day hiding from police in his garage.
He denied the charges with his lawyer arguing that Byrne feared Mr McCarthy was going to attack him and had challenged him to a fight.
However Chief Justice Helen Murrel rejected most of Byrne's claims, describing his evidence as "completely unreliable".
She pointed out that Byrne was with other young men while Mr McCarthy was drunk and outnumbered and did not accept the punch he threw was an instinctive reaction .
She also questioned the fact Byrne claimed to have no memory of large parts of the evening but offered minute details about the moments leading to his near-fatal blow.
The Justice acknowledged Byrne was somewhat intoxicated but said he was sober enough to land his punch with devastating effect and then flee the scene quickly on foot.
Byrne was released on bail and will be sentenced in February.
Source: Canberra Times
Author: Martin Zavan, Approving editor: Jack Hakwe
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