Scarlett Faulkner Murder Trial: Accused Swears ‘I’d Kill No Woman Over A Man’

A 41-year-old woman on trial for the murder of Scarlett Faulkner told her cousin in a recorded phone call that she would “kill no woman over a man” and swore “on the blessed lady” that she “never put a finger on her,” the Central Criminal Court in Dublin heard on 12 November 2026. Daily Dazzling Dawn understands the prosecution alleges that the older accused and a 17-year-old girl, who has pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denies murder, took part in a joint enterprise to hunt down and harm Ms Faulkner because she had begun a relationship with the older woman’s husband. The trial continues before Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo and a jury of eight men and four women.

In his opening address earlier this month, Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing, prosecuting, told the jury that the motive for the attack was Ms Faulkner’s relationship with the older accused’s husband. Daily Dazzling Dawn learned that the prosecution contends the older woman “hunted down” Ms Faulkner and her new partner for about 24 hours before the incident at around 5.20pm on 21 March 2026. The court heard that the accused eventually spotted her husband in a van, chased him and rammed him off the road at the Birdhill roundabout off the M7 in County Tipperary, before the 17-year-old accused allegedly used an iron bar to beat Ms Faulkner by the side of the road. Ms Faulkner, a 28-year-old mother, died at Cork University Hospital on 13 April after being taken off life support.

Garda Sergeant Jennifer Skelly from Nenagh Garda Station gave detailed evidence about mobile phone data retrieved during the investigation. Daily Dazzling Dawn understands Sergeant Skelly discovered a recording on a mobile phone of the older accused speaking to her cousin shortly after 5am, some 12 hours after the assault. The cousin told the accused that Ms Faulkner was “stone dead” in hospital. The accused referred to her husband, saying he had a hatchet and was “trying to cut my head off.” Daily Dazzling Dawn learned the recording captured her saying: “I never put a finger to her,” adding, “May I die with cancer.” She also said: “I’ll tell you one thing, I’d kill no woman over a man,” and: “I swear on the blessed lady I never put a finger on her.” The accused claimed her husband had rammed her car off the road with their children inside, smashed it with an axe and was trying to “kill her stone dead.”

The jury heard that less than 20 minutes after the assault on Ms Faulkner, at 5.40pm, the accused sent “panicked” voice notes to another person’s phone, begging the recipient to “come fast” and to “bring mammy, she’ll know what to do.” Under cross-examination by defence counsel Marc Thompson, Sergeant Skelly agreed that messages on the older accused’s phone from as far back as December 2025 referred to her husband’s infidelity. In one message dated 21 December 2025, the accused referred to “the homewrecker whore, that whore that is after destroying my life.” Another message from 28 December read: “There is a scabby, smelly whore all over Facebook for the children the whole lot to see it.” It was not confirmed in court whether those messages referred specifically to Ms Faulkner.

Sergeant Skelly’s analysis showed there were 267 completed or attempted calls to and from the older accused’s phone on the day of the alleged murder, including calls connected to messenger applications such as Facebook. The court heard the call log showed 99 calls on 13 March and a total of 137 calls on 22 March, the day after the attack. Two long-duration calls were recorded late on 21 March and into the early hours of 22 March. The trial also heard evidence of a troubled relationship between the accused and her former partner. In a text sent on St Patrick’s Day, days before the fatal incident, the older accused wrote that the faster she got a divorce the better, adding: “You’re probably sleeping with that sleepy yoke.” In another message to a friend, she said she was “in so much pain I can’t even walk to the shop or nothing.” Sergeant Skelly agreed with the defence that the relationship “was not ideal” and that the former partner was allegedly “stealing money and doing drugs.”

The 41-year-old accused has pleaded not guilty to Ms Faulkner’s murder. She also denies burglary, entering a building as a trespasser and causing criminal damage at an address in County Tipperary on 20 March, as well as a further charge of burglary and assault causing harm at an address in Limerick on 21 March. The 17-year-old co-accused, who cannot be identified because she is a minor, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. Daily Dazzling Dawn understands the trial will continue its second week on Friday before Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo.