LAST UPDATE | 30 Sep 2023

A TEENAGE BOY has appeared in court charged with the murder of Lorna Woodnutt in Co Offaly.

The victim, who was in her 40s, was found dead following the violent incident at a residential property in a rural area outside of Tullamore at around 1pm yesterday.

The boy was arrested later on Friday and appeared at a special sitting of Tullamore District Court tonight.

The court was told that the accused made no reply after caution. There was no application for bail.

An application for legal aid through the boy’s solicitor, Aisling Moloney, was granted.

Gardaí have urged people not to share images of the scene of the victim’s killing 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.”

A post-mortem by State Pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers took place this afternoon at Midlands Regional Hospital, Tullamore and an examination of the scene by the Garda Technical Bureau remains ongoing.

Speaking to reporters today, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: “I’ve heard the news of the really terrible events that happened, where a woman was killed and our condolences go to everyone affected and our thoughts and prayers are with the family and the community.

“It does appear that in this instance the social media companies acted very quickly to take down any any images in any video and obviously I’d say to anyone not to share it.”