Brett Halcro: Injuries after Pyrmont stabbing revealed

WARNING: Graphic

A father who was attacked and left for dead on a Sydney footpath with his face carved open by a knife cannot hear out of one ear and has only 5 per cent vision in one of his eyes, a court has been told.

Brett Halcro, 37, was beaten senseless by a group of teenagers, including several schoolboys, outside an apartment building in the inner-city suburb of Pyrmont on July 31, 2020.

The gang had been partying at a nearby apartment rented out through Airbnb before running downstairs and setting upon Mr Halcro.

One of the teenagers, aged 16 at the time, used a knife to stab at the father’s face and pierce his right eye.

The teenager, who cannot be identified and is now 17, faced a sentencing hearing before the NSW District Court on Wednesday via AVL from a youth prison.

Mr Halcro was left in a coma in intensive care after the onslaught.

The father of one is traumatised by the attack, which left him with only 5 per cent vision in his injured eye and no hearing in his right ear.

He also suffers constant pain from a misaligned spine.

Mr Halcro told the court he suffered serious trauma from the incident.

“These injuries will affect my future employment, my livelihood, what makes me ‘me’,” he said.

The teenager claims he had no recollection of the attack after drinking alcohol and taking Xanax.

Psychologist Mirian Breit told the court it was likely the now-17-year-old had an “altered mental state” at the time of the offence.

“He told me that because of the drugs he had taken … his mind was very fuzzy and not clear,” she told the court.

The teenager has pleaded guilty to charges including assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

“He said he had no recollection of things after the beginning of the night,” Ms Breit said.

“After he ingested the alcohol and took the tablet on the night of the offence.”

The court was told the teenager, who was a former star at prestigious Sydney private schools, was an academic success before his parents separated in May 2018 and his mother asked him to live with his father instead.

Crown prosecutor Karl Prince questioned the psychologist about her report, asking how the teenager was giving her “genuine responses” in her report if he could not remember the night.

“There was a paradoxical reaction on the night he slashed this man’s face … what you’re saying is outside your area of expertise, but you’re prepared to offer it up as a possibility?” he probed.

Ms Breit replied: “He took a drug we have no knowledge of, there’s no way of knowing what was in that tablet.

“There’s no way of knowing what he took.”

The court was told the boy only became aware of his actions in the morning following the attack after friends who were involved spoke about it.

The teenager was in “complete shock” and on Monday told the court he “couldn’t believe” what his friends were telling him.

He was captured on CCTV wearing a black mask and gloves as he ran out of the apartment building to attack Mr Halcro and said there was “no reason” why he was carrying the knife in his bag.

Ms Breit told the court the teenager said his actions were “irrational” and “in the heat of the moment”.

“It still horrifies him,” she said.

The hearing was adjourned to December 8.

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