Ireland! attempted murder after slashing throat with smashed vodka bottle, Landlord jailed for rape of tenant whom he plied with brandy 2025.4.11-4.11

Aaron Babbington (31) hit his girlfriend twice in the face during Cork incident

A man who hit his girlfriend twice in the face and then slashed the throat of a 32-year-old man who later died in hospital has been jailed for eight years.

Aaron Babbington (31), of no fixed abode, had pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of Jason Butler on June 14th, 2023, at Grand Parade in Cork city. Mr Butler died at Cork University Hospital two days after the incident. He was predeceased by his parents and three of his six siblings.

Cork Central Criminal Court heard that on the day of the attack Mr Butler, who was from Castleredmond in Midleton in the county, met Babbington and his girlfriend by a shop on Grand Parade at about 7pm. A person working in the shop said all three were in good form and exchanging banter with each other. The trio were sharing a bottle of vodka and sat down together on a bench at nearby Daunt Square.

Det Sgt Colin Greenway told Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford that about 40 minutes later Babbington became “frustrated and angry” at the attention his girlfriend was paying Mr Butler. Det Sgt Greenway said the “attention was not reciprocated in any way”.

“An eyewitness passing by heard Aaron Babbington saying he was going to stab him (Mr Butler) and making the comment either ‘you are going to die’ or ‘you are dead’.

“After these threats he hit his girlfriend twice in the face and kicked Jason Butler in the head. He picked up the bottle of vodka, drank its remaining contents, held it by the neck and attempted to smash it against the Argos building. He made nine unsuccessful attempts.

“His girlfriend and Jason Butler got up to try to escape. Unfortunately Mr Butler fell to the ground and was unable to regain his feet and was helpless on the ground when Aaron Babbington returned and smashed the bottle off the concrete bench.

“He then turned to Jason Butler and, with the sharp broken bottle, he bent over him, wrapped his arm around his neck, and pressed the bottle into his neck.”

A victim impact statement was handed into Ms Justice Lankford on behalf of the Butler family. However it was not read out in court.

Babbington apologised to the Butler family via his barrister Tom Creed.

Mr Creed said his client hailed from a dysfunctional family background. He stressed that Babbington wanted to address his addiction issues. “He realises now that his attempt to take the life of another human being has had a serious affect on him. While an unstable environment cannot excuse his behaviour on the day, it is something the court can look at.”

Ms Justice Lankford offered her condolences to the family of the late Mr Butler. She noted that the “entirety of the incident” had been captured on CCTV.

She commended a passerby who intervened “very bravely and very expeditiously” when he saw the attack occur.

Babbington, who was jailed for 10 years with the last two years suspended, has 143 previous convictions mainly for drug possession and public disorder offences.

Among aggravating factors was that assailant committed serious breach of trust in that victim a tenant, says judge

A 62-year-old landlord has been jailed for seven years for raping a young woman tenant whom he plied with alcohol until she fell asleep. Lorita O’Donoghue woke up to find her assailant having sexual intercourse with her.

Michael Paul O’Leary of Four Winds, Ballyarthur, Fermoy, Co Cork, had been convicted earlier this year by a jury at the Central Criminal Court of the rape of Ms O’Donoghue, who is in her 30s, at a property that she and her fiance were renting from him in Fermoy on May 28th, 2022.

Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford recalled the evidence given by Ms O’Donoghue at her trial when she told how she had accepted an invite by O’Leary to join him for a nightcap at his nearby property after he had called to visit her while her fiance was away for the weekend.

She recalled how Ms O’Donoghue told how O’Leary kept topping up Ms O’Donoghue’s glass with brandy without invitation and how she became intoxicated and passed out only to wake up to discover someone on top of her inserting their penis into her vagina.

She thought at first it was her fiance but quickly realised it was O’Leary, and she asked him what he was doing trying to wreck her life and that of her fiance and tried to get him off her, but he kept her pinned down and continued thrusting inside her until he was finished.

The judge said that among the aggravating factors was that O’Leary had committed a serious breach of trust in that Ms O’Donoghue was a tenant and to a lesser extent a neighbour, while another aggravating factor was that she was intoxicated, which was evident to him.

She said among the mitigating factors was the fact that O’Leary had never come to Garda attention before or since this incident. And while he was entitled to defend himself, he could not benefit from any discount that would have been available to him had he chosen to plead guilty.

She said she could fix a headline sentence at eight years and reduce it to seven years in light of his previous good behaviour, but there was no basis for suspending any of the sentence given that O’Leary did not accept the verdict of the jury and still maintained his innocence.

The judge praised Ms O’Donoghue for the clarity and bravery with which she had delivered her victim impact statement in which she had told how she was now a different person and how the rape had robbed her of her self-confidence and esteem.

“Since the night I was raped, my entire world was turned upside down. My life as I knew it was over. For almost three years I have been fighting to get my life back together. What you did to me was an utter violation of my mind, my body and my soul,” Ms O’Donoghue told the court.

“I was in a horrifically traumatised state the hours that followed the crime. I was numb and broken, I felt I had died inside – the experience of going to the sexual assault clinic was like being a corpse and I was there because you raped me.”

Speaking after the case, Ms O’Donoghue, surrounded by family and friends, said she was happy with the seven-year sentence imposed on O’Leary. “I feel very thankful to the judge. I feel justice has been done.”

Ms O’Donoghue urged anyone who has been the victim of sexual violence to come forward and report it as they will be believed and she said she hoped that by speaking out, it would encourage others to come forward to report the crime committed against them.

She thanked the jury for believing her and convicting O’Leary while she also praised Det Garda Rachel McGrath of the North Cork Protective Service Unit who investigated the case, Mary Crilly of the Cork Sexual Violence Centre, as well as her family and friends for their support.