Charleen Murphy hopes ‘true justice can be served’ following alleged hotel assault

Ms Murphy (23) was injured in the incident, which took place at the Grafton Capital Hotel on Stephen Street Lower on Friday evening.

Craig O'Brien (27), with an address at Thomond Road, Ballyfermot, Dublin, was arrested and charged with assault causing harm to the social media star after she blocked him online.

Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, Charleen thanked her 196,000 followers for their support as she opened up about the “very serious and violent attack” for the first time.

“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,” she began.

“Unfortunately, there remains a very dark side to social media that I have become a 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 to my head. It hurts my heart that I have to be strong and heal from a situation that should never have happened”.

Charleen said she couldn’t give any more details as she didn’t want to “prejudice the case” after giving evidence against Mr O’Brien at his bail hearing.

She continued: “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”.

Mr O'Brien was held pending his court appearance at Dublin District Court on Saturday when Judge Paula Murphy remanded him in custody.

Objecting to bail, Garda Stephen McDonnell cited the seriousness of the incident as he told the court that it was alleged Ms Murphy had been socialising with a friend in the hotel lounge when a male entered and "viciously attacked" and injured her.

The contested bail hearing was told the man was "someone known to her and her friend through personal online abuse on various social media accounts".

It was alleged that the accused entered the premises, paid for a drink at 9.30pm with his Visa card, and attacked her a minute later.

The court heard he allegedly approached Ms Murphy, who was having dinner with her friend from behind, and "punched her full force to the back of the head".

The court heard her head rebounded off the glass she was drinking, resulting in a laceration of her face.

It was claimed she and her friend recognised him from "previous online abuse" and that afterwards he sent her a voice message via social media saying: "How's the head?”.

The court heard she went to St James's Hospital and left A&E at 5am.

Ms Murphy gave evidence during the bail hearing and explained she was a social media influencer and had posted where she was online.

The court heard she had blocked the accused and "I've never seen him in real life before."

Mr O’Brien was refused bail and was remanded in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on February 17 next. Legal aid was granted to the accused.