Irish tourist Barry Lyttle almost killed his younger brother.
Patrick Lyttle was left in a coma with severe head injuries after being hit by his 33-year-old sibling outside a Kings Cross pub in the early hours of January 3.
He has since made "an extremely good recovery" Magistrate Graeme Curran said as he sentenced Barry to a 13-month suspended sentence on Friday afternoon in Sydney.
Barry was comforted by Patrick at the Downing Centre Local Court, sobbing as Mr Curran read details of the assault that almost ended his brother's life.
After Patrick gestured at Barry and pushed him at around 3am on January 3 on the Sydney nightclub strip, the elder Lyttle punched his brother in the head with Patrick dropping immediately.
Barry cradled his brother's head as emergency services arrived within minutes.
Patrick was taken to hospital and Barry to the police station, later to be charged with causing reckless grievous bodily harm.
"I love my brother very, very, much, more than anything in the world, and no matter how argumentative he can be or how frustrating he could be I love him very, very much," he told police during the interview.
Supporters in the court gasped on Friday as Barry was told he was being sentenced to jail but were hugging the brothers minutes later when the entire sentence was suspended.
Mr Curran said Barry was of good character, was remorseful and unlikely to reoffend and a non-custodial sentence was appropriate.
After the sentence, Barry walked from the court next to Patrick, clearly relieved.
Patrick, who had called for the charge to be dropped, said he was happy with the result.
"This guy has been through an awful lot, not just myself," he said.
"We're just delighted that we can go home as a family now."
Barry had come to Australia on December 29 to visit Patrick.
The brothers had plans to visit the Gold Coast.
Now they are preparing to return home to Northern Ireland where they will speak to young people about the danger of one-punch assaults.
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