Man goes on trial charged with murder of chef in Cobh
A 30-year-old man has gone on trial at the Central Criminal Court in Cork charged with murdering a 33-year-old chef in Cobh in March of last year.
Dylan Scannell of O'Rahilly Street in Cobh denies murdering Ian Baitson.
When he was arraigned yesterday, he replied: "Not guilty to murder, guilty of manslaughter".
Ian Baitson was a father of two, a son and a brother. He worked as a chef in the east Cork area.
He died on 19 March 2024, four days after he had been attacked with a sword.
This morning, at the Central Criminal Court in Cork, Mr Scannell went on trial charged with Mr Baitson's murder.
Prosecuting Senior Counsel Dónal O'Sullivan told the jury of six men and six women it is the State's case that Mr Scannell was the person who attacked and struck Mr Baitson with the sword.
He said, given that Mr Scannell had pleaded guilty to manslaughter and accepted he caused Mr Baitson's death, his job as prosecutor was to prove that he intended to kill or cause serious injury to Mr Baitson when he attacked him.
He said the two men were known to each other and it appeared there was a debt owed by Mr Baitson to Mr Scannell which was being paid off bit by bit.
He said after the attack, Ian Baitson's mobile phone was recovered. WhatsApp messages and voice notes between Mr Scannell and Mr Baitson were analysed and the prosecution will say that in the run-up to the events of 15 March the messages from Mr Scannell were becoming more threatening.
On the night of the attack, Mr Baitson left his mother's home and went to the nearby Eurospar shopping centre at around 8.50pm.
The jury is expected to be shown messages between Mr Baitson and Mr Scannell arranging to meet up.
Mr O'Sullivan said CCTV footage would also be shown to the jury showing a person leaving O'Rahilly Street in Cobh in a silver Skoda Octavia and travelling to the car park of the Eurospar in Cobh.
He said the State's case is that Mr Scannell attacked Mr Baitson with the sword, causing his death, before leaving the scene in the car.
The car was subsequently tracked on CCTV returning to O'Rahilly Street.
Gardaí subsequently searched a beach area close to the Mall in Cobh and recovered the sword.
Mr Baitson's DNA was found on the sword when it was analysed.
A floor mat from the Skoda Octavia was also tested and was found to have Mr Baitson's blood on it.
A man who witnessed the attack and a number of people who witnessed the immediate aftermath also gave evidence.
Shop worker Eric Thomas said he came out of the shop and saw Mr Baitson lying on his stomach on the ground.
He said the man's leg had been almost severed and there was a lot of blood.
Emergency first responder Liam Leahy was in the Eurospar when the alarm was raised.
He said he heard someone saying a man outside was after having his leg chopped off.
He went to help and saw Mr Baitson had suffered a catastrophic bleed. He said he knew the situation was grave.
He tried to stop the bleeding with a tourniquet.
A doctor arrived along with two paramedic crews in ambulances.
Mr Baitson was removed to the emergency department of Cork University Hospital, where he died on 19 March.
The trial is continuing.
It is expected to last around a week.
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