Woman seen striking Scarlett Faulkner’s head with metal bar six or more times

A woman has told a murder trial she was in “total shock” after seeing a female at the side of the road holding a metal bar and striking down with force on Scarlett Faulkner’s head six or more times.

Trudy Doyle told prosecution counsel Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing the car windows were closed and music was playing but she still heard the impact of the “rapid” blows.

She said she noticed other people standing looking at their mobile phones who were “totally not engaged” and were not trying to help.

She said they seemed “nonchalant”, while she and her sister, Claire O’Byrne, were so shocked they were unable to speak.

O’Byrne told Ó Dúnlaing she was driving the car with Doyle in the passenger seat as they pulled up to the Birdhill roundabout off the M7 motorway in Tipperary.

She said she initially thought she saw an animal on the ground but then saw Faulkner’s feet, tracksuit bottoms and blonde hair. She saw another female striking “down directly to the head” of Faulkner, who did not move or try to defend herself.

She also saw two boys aged 11 or 12 who were watching from an embankment on the hard shoulder. She said she was “quite shocked” at the violence and that those involved had “no regard for who was around or who was watching”.

Gerard Coonan told Ó Dúnlaing he was driving along when he noticed a van and a people carrier ahead of him “hopping off one another”.

The vehicles stopped at the Birdhill roundabout and Coonan saw a man holding an axe with both hands and “pretending to swipe” at people, to frighten them away.

A little further along, he saw three females who seemed to be “running away from the situation”. One of the females jumped on to a car that was attempting to do a U-turn in the road. Coonan said he saw a space and “just got out of the situation as quickly as I could”.

Advanced paramedic Frank Malone said he attended to Faulkner on the side of the road. She was lying on her back with blood on her face and forehead, he said.

Dr Shalen Maharaj, a trauma specialist at University Hospital Limerick (UHL), happened to be on the scene and told Malone that Faulkner was breathing but had a significant head injury.

The paramedic could hear Faulkner moaning but she did not communicate at any point.

A number of people helped to lift Faulkner to a stretcher and into the back of an ambulance where Maharaj continued to treat her and administered pain relief medication.

About 10 minutes later, a Coast Guard helicopter arrived and airlifted Faulkner to UHL.

Edward O’Mahony, prosecuting, read Maharaj’s statement to the jury. Maharaj detailed his attempts to deal with Scarlett Faulkner’s traumatic head injury.

He said it was obvious that all injuries were pinpointed in one location to the lower back part of her head on the left side. He also concluded Faulkner was “likely hit while walking away or on the ground”.

Scarlett Faulkner died on April 13th, three weeks after the assault at Birdhill, Co Tipperary, on March 21st.

A 17-year-old girl and a 41-year-old woman are on trial accused of her murder. In his opening speech earlier this week, Ó Dúnlaing told the jury the motive for the attack was that Faulkner was in a relationship with the older accused’s ex-husband.

The 17-year-old accused has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter.

The older 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 March 20th.

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

The trial continues before a jury of eight men and four women.