A 31-year-old man, who was due to go on trial next year charged with the murder of a man in Cork city centre last year, has entered a plea of guilty to attempted murder which has been accepted by the State.
Aaron Babbington pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Jason Butler when he was arraigned at the Central Criminal Court in Cork on Thursday.
Babbington, formerly of Churchfield Avenue, Churchfield, Cork, had been charged with the murder of Mr Butler (32) on June 14th, 2023 at the Grand Parade, Cork.
Prosecution counsel, Ray Boland SC, said a trial date for the murder trial of January 13th, 2025 could now be vacated and said a victim impact statement would be sought from Mr Butler’s family.
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Defence counsel Tom Creed SC applied for a probation report on his client in advance of sentencing, saying he believed it would be of assistance to the court.
Mr Justice Paul Burns adjourned the case until January 20th, 2023 at the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin for mention.
Det Garda Pat Russell arrested Babbington last year and charged him at Cork District Court with the murder of Mr Butler on June 14th at Grand Parade, Cork.
At the time of his arrest, Babbington was asked he if had any reply after being charged and cautioned and he made no reply to the murder charge, Det Garda Russell told Cork District Court.
It was previously alleged that the late Mr Butler was slashed in the throat in the incident which happened at about 7.30pm on June 14th when the Grand Parade was busy.
Mr Butler, who had been living in Cork city but was originally from Midleton in East Cork, died two days later on June 16th in Cork University Hospital.
An inquest in January heard that State Pathologist, Dr Sally Ann Collis, carried out a postmortem on Mr Butler’s remains on June 17th.
She found he died from a hypoxic ischemic brain injury due to an out-of-hospital cardiac event and alcohol/mixed drug intoxication, as well as a sharp force injury to the face and neck.
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