Social media star Charleen Murphy has shared shocking photos from the night she was attacked by a man at a Dublin hotel back in February.
Craig O’Brien, 28, was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Friday, after pleading guilty to assault causing harm to her at the Grafton Capital Hotel on February 10.
The photos show Charleen with blood on her face and neck, with a 2-inch gash to her forehead.
The Dublin native wrote: “Today I finally got some justice for the attack I was subjected to in February of this year.
“The night in question was supposed to be a fun catch up with an old friend for dinner and drinks in a restaurant. However an individual sought out my location to cause me harm.
“I say some justice because to me, 18 months won’t ever amount to the damage that was done & how it affected and still affects me today.
“On the night in question, I was punched full force, unprovoked, from behind, so hard that my drinking glass on the table smashed into my head and smashed into a million pieces in front of me.”
“From these photos you can see how my night started and how it ended with blood soaked hair and a 2inch gash that required stitches. There is a physical scar left but the emotional scar will take far longer to heal.
“Over the past few months it may have seemed that life still goes on but behind the scenes I have been in & out of court and truly struggled to deal with it all,” Charleen continued.
“I took to the stand today to acknowledge how this attack has impacted my life but I wanted to also mention that this isn’t just about me. It effects women everywhere and particularly in Ireland and sadly adds another setting onto the list of places where we just arent safe.
“I hope no other online creator will ever go through what I have gone through but more importantly no other woman! Thank you for all of your continued love and support, it is such a blessing and I look forward to moving on with my life and I hope that I can make something positive come from an awful situation,” she added.
Passing sentence today, Judge Orla Crowe said the CCTV shown to the court was “absolutely shocking footage that came out of nowhere”.
She said, “Ms Murphy had no way of protecting herself as she was hit from behind”.
Judge Crowe said there was no history or animosity between Ms Murphy and O’Brien and described the attack as “unprovoked, unwarranted and terrible”.
The judge said while O’Brien was being interviewed by gardaí, he referred to Ms Murphy in “utter derogatory terms, a female who had done nothing to him”.
She outlined the aggravating factors, noting this was one strike to the back of the head, which caused injuries to her face, his previous convictions and that this was an unprovoked attack.
Judge Crowe set a headline sentence of three years. She considered the following as mitigating factors: his early guilty plea, his engagement in education while in custody and the letters from the accused and his family members.
Judge Crowe handed him a sentence of two years and three months with the final nine months suspended for 18 months.
She ordered O’Brien to place himself under the supervision of the Probation Services for 18 months.
Judge Crowe further ordered O’Brien to unfollow Ms Murphy on all social media platforms and not to follow her again or make any contact with her. He is also not allowed to come with 50 metres of Ms Murphy for five years post-release.
The court heard that Ms Murphy is a social media influencer with many online followers.
On the night in question, she went to the Grafton Capital Hotel to meet a friend for dinner and drinks.
On her arrival, she posted photos to on social media, which was normal for her. Ms Murphy was sitting in a booth in the restaurant facing her friend when she felt a blow to the back of her head.
Ms Murphy’s head was propelled forward resulting in her forehead striking a glass on the table. Ms Murphy turned around and saw O’Brien, whom she knew of but had never met in person, walking away from her table. Ms Murphy was bleeding, and her friend called an ambulance, and the gardai were notified.
Later on the night of the offence, O’Brien sent Ms Murphy a voice note on social media asking her, “how’s the head?”.
Garda Stephen McDonnell told Lisa Dempsey, BL, prosecuting, that gardaí spoke with Ms Murphy at the scene, and she was in a position to identify O’Brien. She was then taken by ambulance to St James’s Hospital where she received stitches to her forehead.
CCTV footage from the hotel was obtained by gardai and played to the court.
Gda McDonnell said O’Brien was contacted and attended Pearse St Garda Station the following day. A search warrant was issued for O’Brien’s home. Clothing was seized, including a Canada Goose jacket, which was visible on CCTV footage.
The court heard that during his garda interview, O’Brien said that “influencers were ganging up on him and harassing him, and they [influencers] deserved it”. He also referred to Ms Murphy as a “dumb b***h” and said “he felt bad for her, but she probably deserved it.”
Gardaí asked O’Brien if he had any mental health issues, and he replied that he took medication every day for psychosis.
He was brought to Dublin District Court, where he was denied bail. He has been in custody since February 11.
Charleen read her own victim impact statement to the court, and told how she has become “a shell” of herself since the incident.
Charleen said: “I share a lot of my life online and live a very public life… This was never an issue until February of this year.”
She told the court that she had “a physical scar on her forehead, but that emotional scars don’t fade”.
Since the assault, she has suffered from nightmares, panic attacks and is “a shell of myself”.
Ms Murphy said, “not a day goes by that I don’t think of it”, and hoped that “today justice can be served”.
Gda McDonnell agreed with Miska Hanahoe, BL, defending, that her client came to the garda station straight away the following day when he was contacted.
He agreed that O’Brien had made some strange comments during his interview, and Gda McDonnell told Judge Crowe that “some of what he said didn’t make sense at all”.
The garda agreed with counsel that O’Brien pleaded at the earliest possible stage.
Ms Hanahoe said that her client wished to apologise and said that he is not a danger to Ms Murphy and won’t contact her upon his release.
She said it was clear that her client had a problem with aggression, which was linked to drugs that he began taking when he was 14.
Counsel said that at the time of the offence, her client was in a drug-induced psychosis and genuinely believed that social media influencers were out to get him.
She said her client is engaging with a drug counsellor while he has been in custody. O’Brien stated in a letter to the court that “I am really sorry” and “I regret what I did”. His letter also stated that he was not taking his medication at the time of the offence.
Ms Hanahoe asked the court to take into account her client’s early guilty plea, his remorse and that he doesn’t recognise the person that he was at the time of the offence.
Court copy by Claire Henry
