A 43-year-old man has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of mother-of-two Paula Canty in Mallow, Co Cork, on January 3rd, 2025.
Joseph Butler had previously been charged with the murder contrary to common law of Canty (31) at the Belfry, Bridewell Lane, Mallow, Co Cork. Canty, of Kinsale, Co Cork, was killed three days before her 32nd birthday.
On Monday at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork, prosecution senior counsel Donal O’Sullivan said a plea of manslaughter was acceptable to the State. Butler, who is originally from Midleton in Co Cork, only spoke to confirm his plea of guilt.
Defence barrister Ray Boland said his client had a history of substance abuse. He told the court Butler was “very remorseful” for his actions and had written a letter of apology to the family of the deceased. The letter will be forwarded to the State.
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Boland asked that a probation report be prepared in advance of the sentencing hearing. Judge Siobhan Lankford directed the preparation of a probation report and victim impact statements. The case was adjourned until June to fix a date for its finalisation.
Butler will appear in court via video-link on June 3rd. The case will then be further adjourned for a full hearing. He was further remanded in custody pending his next court appearance.
Canty is survived by her mother Sinead, her children Alyisha and Aoibhe and her five siblings.
She was pronounced dead in an upper-storey rented flat in Mallow in January 2025. A postmortem examination was carried out at Cork University Hospital by Assistant State Pathologist Dr Margaret Bolster. The investigation was then formally upgraded to a murder probe.
An inquest in July of last year heard that Canty suffered haemorrhage and shock after sustaining a stab wound to the thorax.
Mourners at her funeral in St John the Baptist Church in Kinsale, Co Cork, on January 11th, 2025, heard that Paula was creative, with a “kind heart” and a “soft, pleasant nature”.
