A bail hearing for the murder accused on Friday also heard allegations that Mr Batterham remained "extremely" aggressive "before, during and after" the altercation and had later told authorities "give me two minutes with him".

Mr Batterham, 33, is accused of murdering Mr Slater-Dickson on March 26 after he found the alleged victim stealing a handbag from inside his family's home at Hamilton in Newcastle about 3.20am while Mr Batterham was drinking with a friend.

He is alleged to have chased Mr Slater-Dickson for "more than four football fields" before tackling him to the ground, punching him repeatedly in the head while having his arm around the burglar's throat.

As eyewitnesses, including an off-duty police officer, repeatedly told Mr Batterham to stop, he allegedly continued to grip Mr Slater-Dickson around the throat with his face on the ground.

The altercation was also recorded by triple-zero operators after Mr Batterham had rung them before throwing the phone as he wrestled with Mr Slater-Dickson.

Mr Slater-Dickson was "limp" when police arrived and he died the following day in hospital.

DPP solicitor John Sfinas told Newcastle Local Court that Mr Slater-Dickson had died from an hypoxic brain injury – a lack of oxygen to the brain which led to a heart attack.

But in applying for bail, defence barrister Winston Terracini SC said Mr Slater-Dickson had a range of medical issues, was addicted to the drug ice, had committed the "home invasion" and was armed with multiple knives.

Mr Terracini described the murder case against his client as "extraordinarily weak" and "almost impossible to contemplate".

"[Batterham and his friend] were sitting there minding their own business drinking and reminiscing and the deceased has appeared in the house," Mr Terracini said.

He said the defence of protection of property and family, as well as "a reasonable attempt to apprehend" were all valid arguments.

Mr Terricini said his client was not a flight risk – the only time he ever held a passport was when he competed for Australia in hockey – had strong family support and his community ties included his boss still paying his wage and promising his job back when he was released.

But Mr Sfinas submitted the case against Mr Batterham was strong, his actions were "extremely" aggressive "before during and after" and it was not the "classic" self defence case.

"This was not a struggle. This was the accused chasing down the offender," Mr Sfinas said.

The court also heard about a range of injuries suffered by Mr Batterham, including facial grazes, a bite mark on his forearm and a badly swollen hand shown in photographs which had since been published.

The facial grazes could have occurred when Mr Batterham fell during the chase.

"There is no evidence that the deceased assaulted the accused other than when he had bit him when he had been punched repeatedly to the head," Mr Sfinas said.

Magistrate Robert Stone will hand down his judgment on whether to release Mr Batterham on bail on Tuesday.

Outside court, Mr Slater-Dickson's aunt Pauline Dickson said the family was still grieving his death.

"My sister can't be here because she is still mourning her son," Ms Dickson said.

"I feel really sick. I'm all shook up about what they said.

The Newcastle Herald