Woman and teenage girl charged over fatal assault on Scarlett Faulkner

A 41-year-old woman and a 17‑year‑old girl have been charged with murder in the death of 28‑year‑old Scarlett Faulkner, who died on 13 April following an incident in Birdhill, Co Tipperary.

At the Central Criminal Court, Senior Counsel Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing SC told the jury that the two accused acted in a joint enterprise to kill or seriously harm Ms Faulkner because she was in a relationship with the older woman’s former partner.

The prosecution alleged the older woman spent a day searching for Ms Faulkner and her new partner, eventually spotting the partner’s transit van and ramming it off the road – an event captured on dash‑cam footage. After Ms Faulkner left the van, the teenage accused struck her 10 or 11 times on the head with a 63 cm metal pole, using “ferocious and brutal force”.

Evidence to be presented includes mobile‑phone messages from the older accused to Ms Faulkner’s sister, threatening violence, and footage of the older accused holding an axe and damaging a caravan after entering it as a trespasser.

The 17‑year‑old has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. The 41‑year‑old has pleaded not guilty to murder, burglary, trespass and criminal damage offences linked to incidents on 20 and 21 March 2026 in Co Tipperary and Limerick.

Source: Irish Examiner. Photo: Zachary Caraway / Pexels.