Woman’s manslaughter plea rejected ahead of murder trial

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A 30-year-old woman’s guilty plea to manslaughter was rejected at the Central Criminal Court, and her case was to proceed to trial on a murder charge. The proceedings were reported on 25 May 2023.

The woman pleaded not guilty to murdering a four-year-old boy and guilty to his manslaughter. The boy sustained injuries at an address and died in hospital on 16 March 2021. She cannot be named because of reporting restrictions.

She also pleaded guilty to two counts of wilfully assaulting the child while having charge or care of him, in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to his health or seriously affect his well-being. The first count related to an unknown date between 1 January and 5 March 2021, inclusive; the second related to an unknown date between 6 and 11 March 2021, inclusive.

Aoife O’Leary BL, prosecuting, said the manslaughter plea was not acceptable to the Director of Public Prosecutions. Seamus Clarke SC, defending, told Mr Justice Paul McDermott that his client’s trial was fixed for April 2024 and asked for her pleas to be marked as early. Clarke said the woman’s co-accused was not charged with murder but with other counts similar to the first assault count; the co-accused’s trial was listed for 8 April 2024.

Counsel for both sides said reporting restrictions applied under Section 252 of the Children Act 2001, noting that the deceased was a child and that there was a living child witness. The judge remanded the woman in custody with consent to bail.