Man sentenced to 10 years for manslaughter of brother's girlfriend
Paula Canty died from a single stab wound to the chest in January 2025.
**Man sentenced to 10 years for manslaughter of brother's girlfriend**
**Paula Canty died from a single stab wound to the chest in January 2025**
A 43-year-old man has been given a 12-year prison sentence, with the final two years suspended, for the manslaughter of his brother's girlfriend.
The Central Criminal Court heard 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 them at her apartment in Mallow in January 2025.
Ms Canty was a 31-year-old mother of two.
She had 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 erupted between Butler and Ms Canty.
**Joseph Butler was sentenced to 12 years in jail**
Butler picked up a kitchen knife and stabbed her once in the chest.
He was originally charged with Ms Canty's murder but maintained his innocence.
He later pleaded guilty to her manslaughter.
The court heard that Butler had told gardaí (Irish police) he had stabbed Ms Canty by accident, that she was family, and that she was "grand" when he left the apartment while still holding the kitchen knife, which he threw away in a nearby laneway.
His lawyer, Ray Boland, said he had faced many difficulties, including growing up in an atmosphere of violence and addiction, and said he was truly remorseful.
At sentencing on Friday, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon said Butler had shown callousness by leaving the apartment after stabbing Ms Canty and failing to call emergency services.
She rejected the account he gave gardaí about the struggle and said some of his earlier convictions showed a history of violence.
She handed Butler a 12-year sentence, suspending the last two years on the condition that he keep the peace.
She said the proper sentence would have been 14 years, but reduced it to 12 years because of his background, his apology and his guilty plea.
"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."
Ms Canty's family described in victim impact statements how her death had changed their lives forever.
Her mother Sinéad said her firstborn's death had been "gut-wrenching" and had 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 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."