Scarlett Faulkner would never have recovered from attack

Scarlett Faulkner would never have recovered from Birdhill attack, trial told

Updated / Monday, 9 Nov 2026 16:12

A trial at the Central Criminal Court has heard that 28-year-old Scarlett Faulkner would never have recovered from injuries sustained in an attack on the roadside at Birdhill last March.

The 28-year-old died on 13 April after suffering a severe brain injury the previous month.

Assistant State Pathologist Margot Bolster was giving evidence on the fifth day of the trial of a 41-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl who deny the charge of murder.

The teenager has admitted manslaughter, but the prosecution says both accused were part of a joint enterprise which led to the murder of Ms Faulkner.

Neither of the accused can be named to protect the anonymity of the teenager.

Dr Bolster told the jury that Ms Faulkner had died as a result of a severe, traumatic brain injury caused by multiple forceful blows with a blunt weapon.

She said the injuries were consistent with multiple blows from something like an iron bar shown to her by gardaí.

The jury was told that Ms Faulkner had suffered several fractures to her skull and face along with multiple lacerations.

She had been in a deep coma since the attack on 21 March and was never going come out of it. The level of brain injury was the most severe, the court was told.

She had also suffered a stroke while on life support.

Dr Bolster said the patient had been severely brain damaged it had been explained to her family that she would have been highly likely to have remained in a persistent vegetative state.

The jury heard that life support was removed on 13 April and she was pronounced dead.

Detailing her post-mortem examination, Dr Bolster described how there was a single small teddy bear taped to the hospital gown that Ms Faulkner was wearing when she died and hair clips in her hair.

She noted three tattoos on her body, one with a name and a heart, another of a butterfly, and another with initials and a heart.

She said blood tests showed the presence of cocaine and other prescription medication, but there were no contributory factors to the death.

The trial continues tomorrow before Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo and a jury.