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The Central Criminal Court in Dublin has heard harrowing voice notes recorded by a 17-year-old girl accused of murdering Scarlett Faulkner, in which she allegedly described "battering" the 28-year-old with a bar and stated that "her brains were on the floor." The teenager, who cannot be identified due to her age, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. A 41-year-old co-accused also denies murder. The prosecution alleges both were engaged in a joint enterprise driven by romantic jealousy, following Ms Faulkner's relationship with the older woman's estranged husband.
Chilling Recordings Detail the Fatal Assault- On the seventh day of the trial, Sergeant Jennifer Skelly of Nenagh Garda Station presented a preliminary report on mobile phone data extracted from both accused. The jury heard a series of audio clips recorded by the teenage accused from 8:28pm on the evening of Saturday, 21 March—just hours after the fatal incident at Birdhill, County Tipperary.
In the first message, the teenager described being a passenger in a car as the older accused chased her husband, who was driving a van. The teenager claimed her co-accused was "ramming and ramming" the van until it went off the road. She stated that a woman got out of the van and "kept running." Daily Dazzling Dawn understands the teenager then said: "I was running up the road and my shoes were gone and I battered her with a bar. Her brains were open. Her brains were on the floor. I got the bar and stuck it into her eyeball. I gave her some beating."
In another voice note, the teenager referred to Ms Faulkner's condition, saying: "The young one is in hospital on breathing tubes, she can't breathe… she is broke up… I think I'm going to be getting charged with it and locked up." She also mentioned that others present could not assault the man because he had a big axe, adding: "We had a machete but it broke." She further stated: "They didn't get Daddy but they are going to get him because he needs a beating."
Messages Reveal Boredom and Defiance After Attack- The court was also taken through a series of text messages exchanged between the teenager and a friend in the hours following the assault. At 6:55pm, approximately 90 minutes after the incident, the teenager messaged: "Come here, I'm bored off my brains x." Later that evening, she texted that "the guards" were outside her uncle's home. Her friend replied: "They were outside ours as well, scary s**t." A further message from the friend read: "You're going to jail girl, I'm so scared." The accused reportedly replied: "ha ha [accused's name] be singing like Beyoncé."
Sergeant Skelly also told the court that between 10:26pm and 10:36pm that same date, the younger accused took a series of "selfies" on her phone. The witness identified the accused in a photograph taken at 10:36pm, adding that she was "on a sunbed" when taking the picture.
Older Accused's Threats and Caravan Attack Detailed- The jury was also presented with messages and video footage linked to the 41-year-old co-accused. In one message sent to her father-in-law, she allegedly wrote: "Tell the fella, the crackhead, my son said he is going to do life in jail. He can take the prostitute to another country because his life is over here. I'll cut her throat and ye worse knowing all about it." Another message stated: "Tell her sister she is going to die when I get my hands on her."
Another message sent by the older accused to Scarlett Faulkner read: "I promise you your life is over, you old low-life tramp."
The court was shown video footage, recovered from the older accused's phone, of a caravan being damaged with an axe at an address in Tipperary on 20 March. The woman, dressed in a white dressing gown with brown teddy bears, could be seen smashing the outside windows before entering and causing damage to the interior. A number of individuals, including a young toddler, were visible in the footage. In a voice note, the older accused described how she wanted to burn down a caravan, stating: "All her stuff is there but she won't be sleeping in it now."
Daily Dazzling Dawn understands the prosecution's case is that the older accused and the teenager "hunted down" Ms Faulkner and her new boyfriend for 24 hours before the fatal confrontation. The trial continues before Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo and a jury of eight men and four women.
