Accused killer’s dad sent blurry medical document to lawyer

THE man, charged over an alleged fatal assault at Ballina, had hoped the court would allow his family to visit him in hospital.

GENERIC ALICE SPRINGS - Equipment at the Intensive Care Unit at Alice Springs Hospital

THE lawyer for a Ballina man charged with manslaughter has withdrawn an application to have his bail conditions changed.

Bradley Presbury, 23, and co-accused Justin Anderson, 26, have pleaded not guilty to manslaughter over the May, 2018 death of Aaron Marks.

Mr Presbury is also set to defend a charge of acting with intent to pervert the course of justice when the pair face trial next year.

Mr Marks, 38, who lived in Iluka at the time and was previously from the Sunshine Coast, was visiting Ballina at the time of the alleged incident.

He was found unconscious on a River St footpath in the early hours of Sunday, May 13, 2018 and was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital in a critical condition.

He died in hospital several days later.

Before Lismore District Court on Tuesday, Mr Presbury's defence lawyer Rod Behan had planned to apply for his bail conditions to be changed.

In a previous appearance on Monday, the court heard the application was seeking to allow Mr Presbury's family to visit him in hospital.

At that time, the court heard Mr Presbury was being moved from intensive care to a hospital ward.

The nature of his illness was not detailed before the court.

Mr Behan told the court his client hoped to see his mother and sister.

Contact with them is prohibited under Mr Presbury's current bail conditions.

A medical certificate and ICU discharge summary were made available to Judge Dina Yehia, but she said she required more information on Mr Presbury's condition before making a determination.

"(I need to know) what his condition is and what precise care he needs before I entertain any variation to bail particularly the nature of the allegations," she told the court on Monday.

When the matter returned to court on Tuesday, Mr Behan explained there were difficulties with accessing that further information.

"His father texted me a photograph of a medical document but it appears to be out of focus and I can't read it," Mr Behan said.

The case was stood down briefly, but after some time spent trying to resolve the issue, Mr Behan opted to discontinue the application.

"I seek leave to withdraw the application to vary bail," he said.

Judge Yehia granted him leave and the application was discontinued.

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