Scarlett Faulkner struck with 'brutal force', trial told

Updated / Tuesday, 3 Nov 2026 14:18

A jury in the trial of a woman and teenage girl accused of murdering Scarlett Faulkner in Co Tipperary last March has been told she was "hunted down" and struck with "brutal and ferocious force" with a metal pole.

The 29 year old died on 13 April after an incident at Birdhill in Co Tipperary on 21 March last.

In his opening statement, prosecuting counsel Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing said the two accused women had acted in a joint enterprise to find and harm Ms Faulkner after discovering she had begun a relationship with an ex partner of the older accused.

He told the jury it would hear evidence that the vehicle in which Ms Faulkner was travelling on 13 April had been rammed off the road at Birdhill before she was struck 10 to 11 times with a metal pole by the 17 year old accused.

He said dashcam and other mobile phone footage would show Ms Faulkner being hit with the metal bar by the younger accused before the older woman approached and brought her co-accused back to their vehicle.

Mr Ó Dúnlaing said the jury would hear evidence that the older woman had begun looking for Ms Faulkner the previous night and had sent Ms Faulkner’s sister a text message saying: "Your smell bag of a sister will pay for what she donewhen I get her I’ll draw a map of Ireland on her face."

It is the prosecution’s case that both accused acted together in a plan to find and harm Ms Faulkner and the man.

Mr Ó Dúnlaing told the jury Ms Faulkner had her "own personal issues" and had been taking crack cocaine at a premises.

He said she had recently been released from a three-month prison sentence and begun a relationship which may have fuelled the motivation behind the incident at Birdhill.

The jury was told the prosecution must prove that at the time of the alleged attack by the 17 year old, her 41-year-old co-accused had the same intention, was part of the joint enterprise with the intention to kill or cause serious harm to Ms Faulkner.

The jury was also told the 41-year-old woman had attended two properties before the incident at Birdhill looking for Ms Faulkner and the man and there was video footage found on her phone of her damaging one property with an axe.

The 17-year-old accused, who cannot be identified because she is a minor, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. Her 41-year-old co-accused pleaded not guilty to murder.

She also pleaded not guilty to burglary, entering a building as a trespasser and causing criminal damage at an address in Co Tipperary on 20 March.

She pleaded not guilty to a third charge of burglary and committing assault causing harm at an address in Limerick on 21 March.

The trial before Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo is expected to last approximately four weeks, until around 30 November.