A man has entered a plea of guilty to the manslaughter of a 33-year-old chef in Cobh, Co Cork in March 2024 whilst denying a charge of murdering him.
Dylan Scannell was arraigned at a sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork on a charge of murdering Ian Baitson in Eurospar car park, Newtown Road, Cobh, on 19 March 2024.
The 30-year-old, of O'Rahilly Street in Cobh, stated in reply: "Not guilty to murder, guilty of manslaughter."
Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford ordered the jury of six men and six women to return tomorrow morning for the commencement of the murder trial.
She warned them not to "attempt any independent investigations" overnight.
"No looking up things on the internet, no visiting the locus, nothing like that. It would be disastrous. No going on social media. The integrity of the process must be maintained at all times."
Ms Justice Lankford told jury not to serve if they knew any of the witnesses listed or if they were from Cobh in Co Cork or had ties to the area.
They were informed that Mr Baitson had worked at Fitzpatrick’s in Glounthaune, Co Cork.
The date of the charge relates to 19 March 2024 when Mr Baitson died at Cork University Hospital.
It is alleged that Mr Baitson was fatally injured four days earlier on the evening of 15 March 2024 in the Eurospar car park on the Newtown Road in Cobh.
Mr Scannell was first charged with the murder of Ian Baitson on 25 March 2024 at a sitting of Midleton District Court in Co Cork.
Prosecution Senior Counsel, Donal O’Sullivan, previously told a pre-trial hearing of the case that the plea of guilty to manslaughter would shorten the duration of the trial.
The trial will get under way tomorrow in Anglesea Street Courthouse in Cork before Ms Justice Eileen Creedon.
Mr Scannell will be represented by Senior Counsel Tom Creed.
