'I have felt so much anger', daughter of Waterford man killed by her brother tells court

Stephen Butler, 23, of Sheilbaggin, Ramsgrange, New Ross, Co Wexford, was found guilty of manslaughter over the death of his father John Butler at Portlaw, Co Waterford, in the early hours of January 11, 2020. Picture: Patrick Browne

A teenager has said her life was left “changed forever” after her weeping mother woke her up to say her father had died at the hands of her brother, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Katilyn Butler, 19, said although still loves her brother, she "will never be able to forgive him completely".

“I hope we can rebuild our relationship in the future,” she wrote in her victim impact statement, which was read out in court on her behalf.

Ms Butler was at home in bed when she learned her father John Butler had died from injuries he sustained in a fight with his son.

Stephen Butler, 23, of Sheilbaggin, Ramsgrange, New Ross, Co Wexford, later pleaded not guilty to the murder of John Butler, 48, at Portlaw, Co Waterford, in the early hours of January 11, 2020, but admitted his manslaughter.

Butler had claimed that, although he “repeatedly punched” his father during a fight which broke out between the men when they returned to Mr Butler’s home after a drinking session in a local bar, he had not intended to kill or cause severe injury.

After a trial lasting eight days in October, the jury accepted Butler’s case and found him not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. He was remanded in custody for sentencing on the manslaughter charge.

At a sentencing hearing on Monday, Mr Justice Paul Burns was told by Detective Garda Gordon Kelleher that a witness had reported seeing “fists flying” in Mr Butler’s hallway as the father and son fought.

Det Gda Kelleher also agreed with prosecuting counsel Michael Delaney SC that Mr Butler had died from “injuries sustained during an altercation with his son”.

Victim impact statement

Det Gda Kelleher then read out a victim impact statement from the victim’s daughter.

In the statement, Ms Butler said she had been at her mother’s house in New Ross, which she shared with her brother and her mother’s partner, when she was told her father had been pronounced dead at University Hospital Waterford at 4am – two hours after the fight broke out and gardaí were called to the scene.

“I was woken by someone creeping in my room, crying,” she said.

“I was hoping it was my mother about to tell me she had fallen out with her partner. But she embraced me and told me the bad news.” 

Ms Butler said that not only has she lost her father, she has also “partially lost” her brother.

“It doesn’t feel real,” she continued.

“From the day I found out my dad had died, I have felt so much anger towards him [Stephen Butler].

“He is still my brother. I still love him but will never be able to forgive him completely.

“Some days I need him and he’s not around, and that is hard.” 

Ms Butler also indicated that her brother and father had clashed before the fateful night.

“My dad had a very soft side,” she said. “He was also very strong. When I was young I would pretend I was sleeping on the couch, and he would carry me up the stairs to my room, and that lasted until I was 13.

“But he had a tough side and he let us know that. He always had to be right. And I let him be right. Stephen just couldn’t, though. If I could have screamed at the both of them to stop fighting that night, I would have. I now know how fast things can change forever,” she added.

“When I see my brother I can see his pain, and my heart aches,” she said.

“I hope we can rebuild our relationship in the future.” 

Det Gda Kelleher also read from a statement from William Butler, the brother of the deceased.

“Before any of this happened, we were planning a 50th birthday celebration. We are now looking at a corpse,” he said.  

“John was a cousin, an uncle, a father and a great friend. Stephen can sleep at night but we are left looking at a gravestone.” 

Defence counsel Colman Cody SC said Mr Butler’s death was “an absolute tragedy” which “has torn the family apart”.

Mr Cody added, however, that the “interests of justice” would not be served by imposing a lengthy custodial sentence on his client.

He said the fight between Butler and his father was something which was “very much out of character” for his client, whom he said had no previous convictions and whose record before this incident had been “unblemished”.

Butler had a good employment record which showed he was capable of hard work, he said.

He had also pleaded guilty to offence of manslaughter at the first available opportunity even though the State had decided not to accept his early plea.

His client, Mr Cody continued, would also have to live the rest of his life in the knowledge that he killed his own father – a man he now missed – and he

Evidence at trial

During the trial, the jury of eight women and four men were told that both men had been “taking sly digs” at one another as they drank with others at the Clodagh Bar, across the road from the dead man’s house.

Of the pair, Butler was the first to leave the bar and was standing smoking on the doorstep of his father’s house when Mr Butler arrived home.

Words were exchanged between the two before Mr Butler brushed past his son, shutting the door on him and leaving him standing in the street.

An argument then followed, during which Butler forced his way back into the hallway of house.

“I reckon I hit him seven or eight times,” Butler told gardaí in an interview which was later read out in court.

“He hit his head on the way down. I got a fright when I saw the mark on the wall. My heart stopped.” 

 When asked by officers why he didn’t walk away, he replied: “I don’t know. I wasn’t in the right frame of mind. My intention was not to kill him. It was just to fight.” 

 The State Pathologist, Dr Linda Mulligan, told the trial a post-mortem indicated Mr Butler had died from a subarachnoid haemorrhage, which had been the result of either a single blow or multiple blows to the side of the head.

The injury, Dr Mulligan said, had been “non-survivable”.

Mr Justice Burns adjourned sentencing until January 24.