Murder trial: Scarlett Faulkner 'hunted down' and struck with metal pole in Co Tipperary
A jury has heard Scarlett Faulkner was rammed off the road and beaten 10–11 times with a metal pole in Birdhill, Co Tipperary. Two women face murder charges in a trial opening at an Irish court.
Scarlett Faulkner 'hunted down' before fatal assault, murder jury told
A jury in the Central Criminal Court has heard that Scarlett Faulkner was "hunted down" and struck with "brutal and ferocious force" using a metal pole in Birdhill, Co Tipperary, last March. The Irish Independent reports that a woman aged 41 and a 17-year-old girl are jointly accused of murdering the 28-year-old, who died on 13 April following the incident on 21 March.
Prosecuting counsel Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing told the jury in his opening statement that the two accused had acted in a joint enterprise to find and harm Ms Faulkner after learning she had entered into a relationship with an ex-partner of the older accused.
Vehicle rammed, victim struck up to 11 times
Mr Ó Dúnlaing said the jury would hear evidence that the car in which Ms Faulkner was travelling had been rammed off the road at Birdhill before the 17-year-old struck her 10 to 11 times with a metal pole. Dashcam footage and mobile phone video would show the younger accused delivering the blows, he said, before the older woman approached and brought her co-accused back to their vehicle.
The prosecution's case is that both women shared the same intention — to kill or cause serious harm to Ms Faulkner and the man she was with.
Threatening messages sent to victim's sister
The court heard the older accused had begun searching for Ms Faulkner the night before the incident and had sent a text message to Ms Faulkner's sister Victoria that read: "Your smell bag of a sister will pay for what she done when I get her I'll draw a map of Ireland on her face."
A further message stated, "I promise you she will regret this," and the woman told Victoria she was driving around looking for Scarlett and would not stop "until I get your sister and when I get her she is a dead woman."
Victoria Faulkner told the court she first became concerned when Scarlett, the second youngest of 16 children, had not been in contact with family for several days — which was out of character. After posting on Facebook on 20 March about her sister being missing, she said she received a series of calls and messages from the 41-year-old woman now on trial.
Victoria said she recognised the significance of a message in which the woman said Scarlett would be "well off the drugs when she is coming off the tubes in Cork hospital" — Cork University Hospital being associated with serious cases rather than local facilities.
'Check if your sister is dead or alive'
Victoria Faulkner described a later phone call in which the woman's voice sounded "panicky" and she suggested Victoria check if "your whore of a sister is dead or alive up in the hospital." When Victoria asked who had carried out the attack, the woman said "he did it" and ended the call.
Victoria said she later fell to her knees when she saw her sister at Limerick University Hospital ahead of her transfer to Cork. Scarlett was, in her words, unrecognisable.
"She was wrapped in foil, there was blood from her nose, her ears, her mouth. I could not tell the colour of her hair," Victoria told the court. "I kept asking where is my sister and the nurses said they had told me three times that was her."
During cross-examination, defence counsel Mark Thompson, representing the 41-year-old, put it to Victoria Faulkner that she had not contacted the gardaí after receiving the threatening messages. Victoria confirmed she had instead contacted older siblings who intended to find Scarlett and remove her from the situation.
Mr Thompson said his client was a woman known for shouting and cursing but had not meant any of it and had never intended for Scarlett to die. He described the messages as "idle threats thrown left, right and centre" and said his client had expressed her condolences upon her arrest and asked him to relay those again in court.
Background and earlier incidents
Mr Ó Dúnlaing told the jury that Ms Faulkner had her "own personal issues," had been taking crack cocaine at a premises and had recently been released from a three-month prison sentence. He said the relationship she had recently begun may have fuelled the motivation behind the attack.
The court also heard the older accused had visited two properties before the incident at Birdhill, searching for Ms Faulkner and the man. Video footage found on the woman's phone showed her damaging one property with an axe, the jury was told.
Another of Scarlett's sisters, Louise Faulkner, said she had spoken briefly with Scarlett by phone on the morning of 21 March. The call was short and ended when a male voice in the background shouted "tell her about your new boyfriend." Louise said she subsequently received nine missed calls from the same number and was later informed her sister had been admitted to hospital. Scarlett Faulkner died on 13 April.
Charges and pleas
The 17-year-old accused, who cannot be identified as she is a minor, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. The 41-year-old co-accused has pleaded not guilty to murder.
The older accused also faces charges of burglary and criminal damage at an address in Co Tipperary on 20 March, and a separate charge of burglary and assault causing harm at an address in Limerick on 21 March, to both of which she has pleaded not guilty. The trial continues.
Source: Irish Independent