Pub brawler gets seven years’ jail after killing 24-year-old

A man has been sentenced to seven years in jail after pleading guilty to manslaughter after a fatal pub brawl.

The offender, Bryson Larsen-Tai struck Jesse Vikelis-Curas, 24 during a brawl on the NSW north coast town of Ballina.

Vikelis-Curas was killed with one punch, thrown from the side after it caused fatal head injuries after fell into a gutter near the Missingham Bridge. 

The victim’s life support was turned off on Boxing Day. 

"Jesse's death has blanketed me in a darkness and loneliness that I would never wish on anyone,” Kristina Vikelis-Curas told the court.

The matriarch said her son’s death had destroyed her family.

"This constant grief is agonising and debilitating."

Ms Vikelis-Curas told the ABC that the seven-year sentence meant nothing.

"This is a life sentence for us," she said.

Bryson Larsen-Tai was on probation for a reckless wounding charge. when he struck the victim.

Video footage shows Larsen-Tai also stood on Vikelis-Curas while he was unconscious and aimed a kick towards his head.

This was after a second man, Tyrese Hickling, stomped on the victim.

Co-accused Hickling pled guilty to charges of affray and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The 21-year-old Hickling also has a history of assault and was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail, with a non-parole period of three years.

Larsen-Tai was sentenced to seven-and-a-half-years with a non-parole period of five years. He is eligible for release in January of 2025.

He submitted a handwritten letter to the court.

"From the very bottom of my heart I am so deeply sorry to all of you for the pain and heartache I have caused," he wrote.

"I have taken someone away from you in such a stupid and irresponsible act of violence and there is absolutely nothing I wouldn't do to take back that night."

Judge Warwick Hunt said, "It is clear the impacts are heartfelt and long lasting," he said.

"The death of anyone will cause a great deal of anguish ... and that is clearly the case here."

Irit Jackson, 15^th November 2021