Killarney Vale: Riley Dalziell intends to plead not guilty to assault

A man, 18, charged with leaving a 16-year-old in a coma following a fight at a Killarney Vale party intends to plead not guilty to causing grievous bodily harm, a court has heard.

An 18-year-old man was not required to appear at Wyong Local Court when his matter was listed for the first time on Wednesday.

Riley Dalziell, of The Entrance, was charged with causing grievous bodily harm following an alleged fight at a house party at Killarney Vale about 8.30pm on October 30.

Emergency services were called to Torres St following reports that a group of people had attended the party and a fight had allegedly erupted outside.

Police will allege in court Mr Dalziell punched a 16-year-old boy in the head, causing him to fall and hit his head on the roadway.

Mr Dalziell was excused from attending Wyong Local Court.

The boy was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics, before being flown by CareFlight to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition.

He remained at the hospital in an induced coma for several days.

Mr Dalziell’s barrister John Gaitanis, of Henry Parks Chambers, emailed the court seeking brief orders and an adjournment.

Registrar Steve Mannall told the court Mr Gaitanis’ email stated he was appearing for Mr Dalziell and was “pleading not guilty” on his behalf.

The matter was adjourned to January 18 and Mr Dalziell’s bail was continued.

The fight broke out at a house party on Torres St Killarney Vale. Picture: Google Maps

Following the incident a fundraising campaign was launched for the injured boy to help his family with medical costs, with the hope of raising an initial amount of $15,000.

As of Wednesday the fundraiser had raised close to $17,500.

The GoFundMe page was organised by the teenager’s cousin who said he had undergone “multiple operations to try and save his life”.

“Regardless of how he pulls through this he and his family life has been changed forever,” the boy’s cousin said.

“I have created this GoFundMe page to try and somewhat help the financial stress for (the teenager) and his family.

“I am taken back beyond words with how many loving and generous people there are in the world. All the families connected to (the teenager) are astounded beyond belief! Thank you so much everyone honestly.”