DNA matching Limerick's Scarlett Faulkner found on blood-stained metal pole, trial hears

A scientist found DNA matching that of Scarlett Faulkner when he sampled two areas of blood staining on a 64.5 centimetre metal pole recovered by gardai investigating the 28-year-old's death following an assault by the side of a busy road earlier this year, the Central Criminal Court has heard this Tuesday.

It is the prosecution case that Ms Faulkner was beaten to death with the metal pole by a teenage girl who is on trial accused of her murder. The 17-year-old has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter.

A 41-year-old woman is alleged to have been part of a joint enterprise with the teenager to kill or cause serious injury to Ms Faulkner and the older accused's estranged husband, who had begun a relationship with the deceased.

She has pleaded not guilty to murder.

In his opening speech, Seoirse Ó Dúnlaing SC, prosecuting, told the jury that the motive for the attack was the relationship between Ms Faulkner and the older accused's husband.

Dr Liam Reynolds of Forensic Science Ireland today told Mr Ó Dúnlaing that he examined a number of items, including a metal bar measuring 64.5 centimetres that had been seized by gardai.

The bar was 4cm wide at its widest point, had two flat and two concave faces and tapered to a point at one end. The other end appeared to have faint traces of threading that you would see on a screw.

Dr Reynolds noted blood staining near the tapered end and 26cm further down along the edge. The DNA profile from those areas matched that of Scarlett Faulkner, he said.

A pair of blue leggings seized by gardai had blood staining on the front and back which also matched the DNA profile of Ms Faulkner, the witness said.

He also took samples from blood stains on a pair of pyjama bottoms that matched the DNA of the older accused.

Detective Garda Barry Ahern told Mr Ó Dúnlaing that gardai collected exhibits from the scene, as well as from a Volkswagen car, a Ford Transit van and from homes that were identified as of interest to the investigation.

Det Garda Aherne said in the car, gardai discovered a baseball bat and rusted piece of piping in the back seat, the leg of a coffee table in the front passenger seat and a pitchfork in the boot.

Gardai also found a plastic gun in the back of the Ford Transit van beside two registration plates.

Under cross-examination, scenes of crime examiner Garda Larry Stapleton agreed with Colman Cody SC, for the younger accused, that anyone who held the replica would know it was plastic, but from a distance it would look real.

Garda Ray Sweeney told Edward O'Mahony BL, defending, that he is a forensic collision investigator.

He examined CCTV and dashcam footage showing the movements of a Ford Transit van and a blue Volkswagen people-carrier that were involved in a collision moments before Ms Faulkner suffered the head injuries that caused her death.

Garda Sweeney said both vehicles were exiting the Birdhill roundabout on the R494 in Tipperary between Nenagh and Limerick and as they climbed the hill going south, the people-carrier pulled to the right and drove into the side of the van, pushing it to the kerb.

Both vehicles stopped, he said, and the occupants got out while the Transit rolled backwards into a crash barrier at the side of the road.

A female who left the Transit ran downhill towards a Toyota Corolla that had pulled in at the side of the road and was attempting to turn around. The female was followed by people who had gotten out of the people-carrier, he said.

The female went around the Toyota, putting the car between herself and the people following her, but as the car pulled away, she fell to the ground.

Garda Sweeney noted damage to the van and the people-carrier which, he said, was not present on either vehicle in footage from earlier on the same day.

He said there had been a collision between the van and people-carrier minutes before they arrived at the Birdhill roundabout, but both vehicles continued driving at speed until the later collision.

He also noted that when the occupants of both the van and people-carrier got out following the second collision, they showed no signs of injury.

Besides the murder charge, the older accused has 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 further charge of burglary and committing assault causing harm, at an address in Limerick on March 21.

The trial continues before Mr Justice Kerida Naidoo and a jury of eight men and four women.