A woman and a teenage girl have been remanded in continuing custody, charged in connection with the fatal assault of Limerick mother Scarlett Faulkner four months ago.
The accused woman, aged 40, and girl, aged 17, both appeared before Nenagh District Court via video link on Friday, reports Breaking News.
The girl was 16 at the time of the alleged assault on Ms Faulkner using an iron bar.
The court heard that a psychological assessment in respect of the accused girl is still underway, three months after the court initially ordered the evaluation, reports Breaking News.
The 17-year-old is charged with assault causing serious harm to Scarlett Faulkner, 29, at the R494 Birdhill, Co Tipperary, on 21 March last, and appeared before the court accompanied by staff from a youth detention centre.
The accused woman is charged with violent disorder, endangerment and burglary, reports Breaking News.
Members of Ms Faulkner’s family were present in court.
Gardaà informed the court that a file had been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions in respect of each accused and that directions were still awaited from the DPP’s office, reports Breaking News.
A four-week adjournment was sought by gardaà and consented to on behalf of both accused by solicitor John Herbert.
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Judge Marie Keane remanded both accused in continuing custody to appear before Nenagh District Court again on 10 July for DPP directions, reports Breaking News.
Neither of the accused can be named due to reporting restrictions.
Last March, gardaà alleged during bail hearings that the accused girl struck Ms Faulkner’s head with an iron bar at least 11 times, and that the girl laughed when investigators showed her a photograph of Ms Faulkner’s injuries after the alleged attack, reports Breaking News.
Gardaà told the bail hearing that they had responded to a report of a violent assault near Birdhill on 21 March and found Ms Faulkner lying on the road with critical head injuries, and that she was airlifted to University Hospital Limerick and later transferred to Cork University Hospital where she remained in a critical condition with life-threatening injuries.
Ms Faulkner died from her injuries on 13 April after her life support was turned off at CUH on 12 April, reports Breaking News.
Gardaà alleged the accused woman had been searching for Ms Faulkner for 24 hours prior to the attack and had burgled and smashed up a caravan in seeking her, with the burglary allegedly recorded by the accused girl on a mobile phone.
Gardaà further claimed the accused woman drove herself, the accused girl and others in a car that pursued and rammed a van carrying Ms Faulkner and a man on the R494, following which Ms Faulkner was seen exiting the vehicle and being pursued by the accused girl, reports Breaking News.
“Each injury is sustained to the head. Eleven blows to the head can be observed on CCTV,” a garda told the court last March, describing the alleged attack as “callous” and noting that another young female made a video recording of the assault.
The garda gave uncontested evidence that the girl told gardaà during interviews after her arrest: “I followed her and I hit her a few times with the pole, and that’s what happened.” Neither of the accused made any reply to the charges, gardaà told the court, reports Breaking News.
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