CakePHP sample with custom query and pagination.

index.ctp

<?php pr($list); ?>

user.php

<?php

class User extends AppModel
{
  public function paginate($conditions, $fields, $order, $limit, $page=1, $recursive=null, $extra=array())
  {
    $row_start = ($page-1) * $limit;
    return $this->query("
      SELECT User.*, SUM(Cutis.length)
      FROM User
      LEFT JOIN Cutis ON User.id=Cutis.user_id
      GROUP BY User.id
      LIMIT $row_start, $limit
    ");
  }
  public function paginateCount($conditions=0, $recursive=0, $extra=array())
  {
    $r = $this->query("
      SELECT COUNT(User.id) FROM User
    ");
    return $r['COUNT(User.id'];
  }
}

user_controller.php

<?php

class UserController extends AppController
{
  var $uses = array('User');
  var $components = array('Paginator');
  function index()
  {
    $this->Paginator->paginate = array(
      'limit' => 25
    );
    $this->set('list', $this->Paginator->paginate());
  }
}