A 29-year-old man has been remanded in custody after he was charged on Friday morning with a serious assault on a 32-year-old man who has since died at Cork University Hospital.
Aaron Babington with an address at Churchfield Avenue, Cork was charged with assault causing harm to Jason Butler (32) at the Grand Parade, Cork on June 14th.
At Cork District Court at 11am on Friday, Det Garda Pat Russell gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution and told the court Mr Babington made no reply to the charge when it was put to him after caution.
Insp Pat Lyons said gardaí were objecting to bail. Det Garda Russell said the objection was on the grounds of both the seriousness of the charge and possible interference with witnesses if granted bail.
“This is a very serious incident where the injured party received life-threatening injuries. He remains in a critical condition at Cork University Hospital. It happened in broad daylight in an area with a large number of pedestrians present, including children,” said Det Garda Russell.
He alleged the accused had been witnessed by several people assaulting Mr Butler while the incident had also been captured on CCTV.
“I believe there is strong evidence that on June 14th, 2023 at 7.38pm, the injured party was in the company of the accused and his (Mr Babington’s) partner and that he was approached by the accused and stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle,” said Det Garda Russell.
He said number of witnesses have since made statements to gardaí.
Cross-examined by defence solicitor, Frank Buttimer who asked if gardaí would accept Mr Babington being released on strict bail conditions, Det Garda Russell said he believed Mr Babington’s alcoholism was so severe, he would be incapable of attending court if granted bail.
Judge Olann Kelleher said it was a serious matter and after hearing all submissions from both prosecution and defence, he refused bail and remanded the defendant to appear in court again on June 22nd by video link.
Gardaí confirmed at 2pm that Mr Butler, a native of Castleredmond, Midleton in east Cork who had been availing of homeless services in Cork city for some time, died at Cork University Hospital around 1pm. Gardaí have now requested the services of the State Pathologist’s Office.
