NSW pub patron admits 2012 manslaughter

A northern NSW man, whose manslaughter conviction was quashed by the High Court, has now admitted causing the death of a fellow pub-patron he punched in a fight near the hotel.

Paul Ian Lane, 58, pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the NSW Supreme Court to the manslaughter of Peter Morris, 52, who died in hospital after twice falling and striking his head on a Casino road in September 2012.

He appeared in the Sydney court via AVL from the dock in the Supreme Court in Lismore.

In 2014, a Supreme Court jury found Lane not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter, then in 2017 the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal dismissed his conviction challenge.

In June 2018, the High Court found the appeal court erred in its decision, quashed the conviction and ordered a retrial, leading to Tuesday's guilty plea.

CCTV footage showed an altercation between the men down the road from the pub outside a dental surgery.

It showed Mr Morris falling to the ground and striking his head on the roadway on two occasions, 10 seconds apart.

Justice Robert Allan Hulme continued Lane's bail and listed his sentence hearing in Lismore on December 10.

Lane, who was granted bail in July pending his retrial, was originally jailed for a minimum of six years and four months, becoming eligible for parole in January 2020.