A JUDGE’S order for a girl to be psychologically assessed after she was charged in connection with the fatal assault of Scarlett Faulkner has yet to be carried out seven weeks after the order was made, a court heard.
The 16-year-old accused is charged with assault causing serious harm to Ms Faulkner (29) at the R494 at Birdhill, County Tipperary, on March 21 last.
Judge Marie Keane, Nenagh District Court, told the court she made an order on April 1 that a psychological assessment be carried out in respect of the accused girl.
The accused girl appeared before Nenagh District Court via a video-link, accompanied by care staff at a youth detention centre.
Sergeant Adrian Whelan, Nenagh Garda Station, said a Garda investigation file in respect to the girl’s alleged involvement in the assault on Ms Faulkner had been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
An application by Sergeant Whelan for a four-week adjournment, consented to by the girl’s solicitor John Herbert, was granted by Judge Keane.
Mr Herbert told Judge Keane the psychological assessment on the accused girl was “still awaited”.
He assured the judge he was making enquiries through a number of psychologists to arrange the psychological evaluation on the girl.
“I’ve been in contact with two psychologists and I will be speaking to a third,” Mr Herbert told the court.
Judge Keane replied that, in her view, it has always been “exceptionally slow” to arrange and process psychological assessment reports for the courts.
The accused girl spoke only to confirm her name and that she could hear and see the proceedings.
A co-accused 40-year-old woman also appeared before the court, charged with violent disorder, endangerment and burglary, via a video-link from a remand prison.
The judge granted a similar application by Sergeant Whelan, consented to by the woman’s solicitor Pauric Nesbitt, for a four-week adjournment.
Judge Keane remanded the two accused in continuing custody to appear before Nenagh District Court again on June 12 for directions from the DPP.
Neither accused can be named because of reporting restrictions imposed at Limerick District Court where the two accused were initially charged last March.
Gardaí alleged during bail hearings last March that the accused girl struck Scarlett Faulkner’s head with an iron bar at least 11 times. They also alleged the girl laughed when they showed her a photograph of Ms Faulkner’s injuries after the alleged attack.
Gardaí told the March hearing that they responded to a report of a violent assault on March 21 last and found Ms Faulkner lying on the R494 road with critical head injuries.
Ms Faulkner died from her injuries on April 13 after her life support was turned off at Cork University Hospital.
Gardaí alleged the accused woman had been searching for Ms Faulkner for 24 hours prior to the attack, and that she burgled and smashed up a caravan in seeking her.
The court heard the caravan burglary was allegedly recorded by the accused girl on a phone.
Gardaí 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 on March 21.
They alleged Ms Faulkner was witnessed exiting the rammed van and being pursued by the accused girl who, Gardaí said, struck Ms Faulkner on her head at least 11 times with an iron bar.
A prosecuting Garda witness described as “callous” the alleged attack on Ms Faulkner, and told the court that another young female made a video recording of the assault using a mobile phone camera.
The Garda gave uncontested evidence that the girl told Gardaí during interviews after her arrest: “I followed her and I hit her a few times with the pole and that’s what happened.”