Teenage boy charged over violent death of woman in Co Offaly

By Cillian Sherlock, PA

A teenage boy has been charged with killing a woman in a violent incident in Co Offaly on Friday night.

The boy (16) is due to appear before a special sitting of Tullamore District Court at 9.30pm on Saturday.

The incident took place in a rural area outside Tullamore on Friday afternoon. The victim, named locally as Lorna Woodnutt, was aged in her 40s.

A postmortem examination is being carried out by State pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers at Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore while an examination of the scene by the Garda Technical Bureau continued on Saturday.

Gardaí at the scene in a rural area outside of Tullamore, where the body of Lorna Woodnutt was found following a violent incident on Friday. Photo: PA

Gardaí urged people not to share images of the incident online.

A spokesperson said: “An Garda Síochána is aware that images from this incident are circulating on social media and messaging apps.

“An Garda Síochána is appealing to any person who receives these images not to share the content.”

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar offered his condolences to the family and community affected by the incident.