Man sentenced to 10 years for manslaughter of brother’s girlfriend

A 43-year old man has been sentenced to 12 years in jail with two years suspended for the manslaughter of his brother’s girlfriend.

The Central Criminal Court was told that Joseph Butler, of the Belfry, Bridewell Lane, Mallow, County Cork, stabbed Paula Canty with a kitchen knife and left her to die after an argument between the two at her apartment in Mallow in January 2025.

Ms Canty was a 31-year-old mother-of-two.

She spent the night of 2 January last year at her apartment in Mallow, drinking with her boyfriend, his brother and another woman when an argument broke out between Butler and Ms Canty.

Butler took a kitchen knife and stabbed her once in the chest.

He was initially charged with Ms Canty’s murder but insisted he was not guilty.

Later, though, he pleaded guilty to her manslaughter.

The court heard Butler had told gardaí (Irish police) that he had stabbed Ms Canty by accident, that she was family, and that she was “grand” when he left the apartment while still carrying the kitchen knife, which he dumped in a nearby laneway.

His counsel, Ray Boland, said he had had many difficulties, including growing up in an environment of violence and addiction and said he was genuinely remorseful.

At sentencing on Friday, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon said Butler had displayed a callousness by leaving the apartment after stabbing Ms Canty and not calling the emergency services.

She dismissed the version of events he gave to gardaí in relation to the struggle and said some of his previous convictions displayed a history of violence.

She imposed a sentence of 12 years on Butler, suspending the final two years on condition that he be of good behaviour.

She said the appropriate sentence was one of 14 years, but she reduced this to 12 years because of his background, his apology and because of his plea of guilty.

“The accused’s versions of events were inconsistent with the post-mortem and the blood spatter analysis by forensic scientists,” she said.

“The blood pooling indicates that the deceased bled heavily at that location.

“Paula Canty was a vulnerable person, and was much smaller and physically weaker that Joseph Butler.

“It is not credible that she posed a danger to him that required him to plunge a knife 11.5 centimetres into her chest. He left the apartment and there was no call to the emergency services. This demonstrates a callousness.”

‘My heart breaks’

Ms Canty’s family described in victim impact statements how her death had changed their lives forever.

Her mother Sinéad said that her firstborn’s death has been “gut-wrenching” and has affected her physically, mentally, and emotionally.

“My heart breaks, but I will never receive just one phone call from her again,” her statement added.

Ms Canty’s younger brother Darragh said that her “brutal death” had shattered their lives forever.

Her younger sister Rianna said: “There have been so many moments where I wanted to call her to talk to her or share something with her only to remember she was no longer there.”