Mr Zammit, 20, was declared brain dead in August after an attack by four bouncers on the Greek island of Mykonos. His parents, Oliver and Rosemarie Zammit, agonised before taking him off life support.

His cousin, Cameron Tabone, also 20, had his nose and wrist broken in the attack.

The accused, Marios Antonopoulos, appeared in a segment on Axizi Na To Dis (Worth Watching), a reality-current affairs program broadcast in Greece by the popular Antenna channel and in Australia by Antenna Pacific.

"I wanted … to contact the victim's family," he said in an interview at the high-security Korydallos Prison, from which two dangerous inmates escaped by helicopter last month.

"I wanted to talk to them directly, to inform them better, so they can judge for themselves what sort of person I am … but I was afraid they already had a bad impression of me, based on public opinion."

Antonopoulos, 25, is facing charges of murder, impersonating a police officer and possession of an illegal weapon. An 18-year-old and two other men are facing assault charges.

"I never wanted to take a life," he said. "I don't want to be found innocent. I don't believe that I am innocent. I want to be judged and punished objectively, by the family and the courts."

His tearful parents were shown in the studio. Their son said both had cancer and the family was in financial trouble.

A trial date is still to be set. The Herald understands the delay is partly due to witness statements from Australians, who cannot attend the trial, not yet being sent to Greece.

Oliver Zammit, declining to comment on the interview, said the recipient of his son's heart, Athens journalist Kostas Gribilas, 32, had told him heart transplants in Greece had more than trebled and general organ transplants nearly doubled. "If that's the legacy my son's left behind then I'm very proud," he said.