'I went up there to scare him', Cobh murder accused tells trial

The tattoo artist on trial for murdering a young man in Cobh by slashing his leg with a sword said today that he was sorry for killing him but claimed that his only intention was to scare him and not hurt anyone.

The prosecution said he was lying and that he almost amputated the left leg of the deceased.

Dylan Scannell (31) of O’Rahilly Street, Cobh, County Cork, denies murdering 33-year-old chef, Ian Baitson, in Eurospar car park, Newtown Road, Cobh, on March 19 2024 but has itted to manslaughter.

Defence senior counsel Tom Creed asked him how he felt about causing the death of Ian Baitson who died from his wounds, Dylan Scannell said today, “I’m sorry.” 

He and Ian Baitson were friends since their teens, he said.

“I had a drug addiction since I was 13,' he said, recalling an incident in February of 2024, a month before the incident at the centre of the trial, when he fell through a roof and hit his head. 

"I was brought to CUH. They tried to keep me there for a few days. I wouldn’t listen to the doctors and I signed myself out. They were talking to me about damage to my brain over the drugs and the fall,” Dylan Scannell said.

Asked about the debt owed to him by Ian Baitson, referred to in numerous WhatsApp exchanges, he said: “The first debt, he asked me for help in paying a drug dealer. The second was from the drugs I was selling.” 

The accused said that he was under pressure himself from a third party to repay him and he said he and his family were in danger as a result his own debt.

“Ian ed me and asked me to help him with a fella he owed a few quid to and I said I would,” Mr Scannell said.

He said Ian Baitson referred to cousins in Coolock. He (the accused) “didn’t know who they were – I took it as a threat”.

As for how he got the sword, he said it was a gift from a client in the tattoo shop a couple of years before this. 

"I brought it home and hung it on the wall. It was old, it was a rusty old sword.” 

Mr Creed asked: “Why did you bring the sword with you to Eurospar?” 

He replied: “Just for protection. Over the cousins from Coolock. I was paranoid. I was afraid. I wanted to scare him. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I didn’t think I could hurt anyone by hitting him in the leg. I just thought he would get a fright. I didn’t think that would happen.” 

Mr Creed said: “The prosecution case is that on the evening you intended to kill or cause serious injury.” 

He replied: “I didn’t mean to cause any injury. I didn’t think that by hitting someone in the leg that I would cause any damage.” 

Asked what he wanted to say to the Baitson family now, the accused said: “I just want to say I am sorry. I would do anything to take it back.” Senior counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Donal O’Sullivan, cross-examined and said that on that night, Ian Baitson was not armed with anything, he might have had baby-wipes which he had just bought in the shop and he had €185 in his pocket which was still there afterwards.

Mr O’Sullivan said: “The first thing you did was not to put your hand out and say, ‘Ian, where is the money?’ The first thing you do is to take a swipe at him with a sword.” 

Dylan Scannell replied: “Yes.” He agreed that at the scene, the deceased said he was sorry for what he said in texts.

Dylan Scannell said: “I hit him to scare him.”

 Mr O’Sullivan said: “You almost amputated his leg, you went through bone. You are lying. You knew well what you were doing. You went up there to hurt him, and hurt him badly, and that is what you did.” 

In reply, the accused said: “I went up there to scare him.” 

Afterwards, he said, he panicked: “I got rid of the sword, I threw it out the window of the car. It threw it over the wall into the water.” 

Regarding garda interviews, Mr O’Sullivan said: “You were able to answer questions about yourself, about your family but when it comes to the murder of Ian Baitson you say nothing.” 

Dylan Scannell replied: “I wanted to give my side of the story but my then solicitor told me not to say anything.” 

Mr O’Sullivan put to the accused the texts he sent threatening the deceased he was going to smash him up, cut off his fingers and further threats made in sexual . The barrister then asked if those threats meant that he was going to go to hurt him badly. 

The accused replied: “No.” 

As for being sorry, the prosecution counsel said: “You are sorry for yourself in this situation facing a murder charge. What you are saying is lies to get yourself out of this situation. You went up to hurt him and hurt him badly. You went up to seriously injure this man. Your behaviour afterwards indicates someone doing everything he could to avoid taking responsibility for what you did. You are coming up here lying to the jury, bare-faced.” The accused disagreed with that.

The jury of six men and six women at the Central Criminal Court sitting in Cork will deliberate tomorrow on their verdict in the case, which is presided over by Ms Justice Eileen Creedon.