Woman and teenage girl 'hunted down' Scarlett Faulkner before 'ferocious' assault, court hears

Court heard motive for the attack was that Ms Faulkner was in a relationship with the older accused's former partner

Scarlett Faulkner died on April 13 following an alleged incident at Birdhill, Co Tipperary, on March 21, 2026.

A 41-year-old woman and a teenage girl "hunted down" mother-of-one Scarlett Faulkner before the younger accused used "brutal, ferocious force" to beat her to death with a 63cm metal pole, a barrister has told the Central Criminal Court.

Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing SC opened the murder trial, telling the jury the prosecution's case was both accused were part of a joint enterprise to kill or cause serious harm to Ms Faulkner.

The motive for the attack, he said, was that Ms Faulkner was in a relationship with the older accused's former partner. He said the older woman spent a day looking for Ms Faulkner and her new partner before spotting him driving his transit van.

Counsel said the older accused followed her former partner before ramming him off the road in an incident that was caught on dashcam footage. Mr Ó Dúnlaing said Ms Faulkner disembarked from the van and encountered the younger accused, who struck her 10 or 11 times on the head with the 63cm metal pole.

Counsel said: "That bar is of significant enough weight that to wield it in the manner she did, she could only have been using ferocious and brutal force."

At the same time, Mr Ó Dúnlaing said the older accused was involved in an engagement with her former partner.

Mr Ó Dúnlaing said although the prosecution case was that all the injuries suffered by the deceased were inflicted by the teenage accused, both accused engaged in a joint enterprise.

He said the two accused "hunted down" Ms Faulkner and her new partner with the intention of causing them both serious harm.

Mr Ó Dúnlaing said the jury would see evidence gleaned from mobile phones, including a message sent by the older accused to Ms Faulkner's sister, telling her: "Your smell-bag of a sister will pay for what she has done... When I get her I will draw a map of Ireland on her face."

Mr Ó Dúnlaing said the jury would also see mobile phone footage showing the older accused holding an axe and thrashing a caravan. He said the evidence would show she entered the caravan as a trespasser and committed acts of criminal damage.

Ms Faulkner, counsel said, "had her own issues" and had been released from a three-month prison sentence not long before her death. There will be further evidence she had been using crack cocaine, he said.

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

Her co-accused pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Faulkner, 28, who died on April 13 following an alleged incident at Birdhill, Co Tipperary, on March 21, 2026. 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 20.

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

The trial continues.