Charleen Murphy has broken her silence, after she was allegedly subject to a “vicious assault” last Friday night.
Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, the influencer penned: “I want to start this post by saying thank you for the amount of love and support I’ve been receiving the last few days.”
”I’m so thankful for all my followers and grateful for this community.”
Charleen continued: “Unfortunately, there remains a very dark side to social media that I have become victim of in a way I could never have imagined.”
“I’m sure a lot of you have seen the news that I was the victim of a very serious and violent attack on Friday night.”
“As a result of the attack I was taken to hospital and received stitches to a glass wound on my head. It hurts my heart that I have to be strong and heal from a situation that should never have happened.”
“The matter is now being dealt with by the Gardaí and the courts so I cannot say much more than this to ensure I do not prejudice the case.”
Charleen continued to write: “This incident further highlights the epidemic of violence against women. There is no safe space left for us, not even to go out and have dinner and that is absolutely heartbreaking.”
“I can only hope that true justice can be served. Charleen.”
The alleged incident occurred last Friday night after Charleen, who has a following of 188k on Instagram and 145k on TikTok, posted her location on social media.
According to a court report, Craig O’Brien, 27, was remanded in custody by Judge Paula Murphy when he appeared at Dublin District Court on Saturday.
During the hearing, Garda Stephen McDonnell objected to bail as he stressed the seriousness of the alleged incident.
The court heard that the man was “someone known to her and her friend through personal online abuse on various social media accounts”.
It was alleged the accused entered the hotel and paid for a drink at 9.30pm, before he attacked Charleen a minute later.
Mr O’Brien allegedly approached Charleen, who was having dinner with a friend, from behind and “punched her full force to the back of the head”.
The court heard how Charleen’s head rebounded off a glass in front of her, resulting in a two-inch laceration to the right side her face.
The social media star went to St James’s Hospital where she received stitches, and left A&E at 5am.
Charleen said she and her friend recognised him from “previous online abuse”, and it’s alleged he sent her a voice message on social media after the incident saying, “How’s the head?”
On Saturday, Charleen appeared in court to give evidence at the bail hearing.
The court heard that she had previously blocked the accused on social media, but he allegedly continued to create fake accounts to contact her.
Following the incident, Gardaí searched the residence of the accused, and seized clothing as evidence.
Mr O’Brien later came to Pearse Street Garda station to be interviewed, and Garda McDonnell maintained that the accused indicated that he intended to leave the country.
During the hearing, the defence pleaded with the court to grant bail with conditions including a social media ban.
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His solicitor argued that he presented himself at a Garda station, which was not indicative of someone who would evade justice, and pointed out that he’s currently looking after his mother and receiving a €200 a week carer’s allowance.
The judge was also told that the accused, who has not yet indicted a plea, suffered from anxiety and depression.
In her ruling, Judge Murphy refused bail, but stressed that this was not the hearing of the case, and the accused had the presumption of innocence.
Mr O’Brien was remanded in custody, and ordered to appear at Cloverhill District Court on February 17.
