Cork assault: ‘People just stood around and filmed it’ as attackers attempted to 'dismantle my face'

Liz Dunphy The teenager whose bloodied face was shared in photos on social media this week said that only one person came to her aid during a vicious attack in Cork city centre on Saturday night.

The teenager whose bloodied face was shared in photos on social media this week said that only one person came to her aid during a vicious attack in Cork city centre on Saturday night.

Jade Ryan, 19, “can barely stand up” with pain in her back and neck, the cuts and bruises to her face are “embarrassing” and she’s losing clumps of matted, bloodied hair.

And she is “disgusted” by the lack of help that night.

She said: “They basically tried to dismantle my face. I was crying and there was blood coming out of my face.

It’s disgusting. People just stood there and filmed it.

Ms Ryan said that one of the videos, which the Irish Examiner has seen, is so distressing that she can’t even look at it.

“I can’t even look at myself in it. They’re literally on top of my head. Bashing my head.

“And only one person stepped in to help.”

Ms Ryan, who said that she’s never been in a fight before, has been left injured and emotionally scarred by the attack.

She said that it began when her sister bumped into some acquaintances in the Old Oak, a city centre pub. A fight broke out, and Jade was ‘pinned to the ground with her hair being pulled’ when she tried to break it up.

They left the pub but bumped into the other group at a nearby McDonald’s on Winthrop St.

Ms Ryan remembers: “My sister saw them there and said, really calmly, ‘there was no need for that’ earlier.

When we were outside, they walked over and I’m not sure what happened then. They caught my head and bounced it off the floor. I just remember kicks and hits to the head. I think they hit my nose off the floor too. I didn’t know who was on top of me.

“If my sister and friend were not there they would have killed me.

“They ripped my top in half so my chest was out, I had to hold my top together so I just had one arm to try to keep them off.

“When I got up I was full of blood and they hit me again in the face with a bag.”

Ms Ryan said that security staff from the Old Oak pub were “great” and helped after the fight.

And she said that the last time she saw her alleged attackers, they had even hugged her.

“It [the alleged fight] was over some boy,” Ms Ryan said. “They had already tried to disgrace me on social media saying that one of their boyfriends was cheating on her with me. They went into lots of disgusting detail online.

“But it’s not true. Last time I saw them, I apologised for sharing a photo with the boy on Snapchat they gave me a hug.

“Now my head is covered in lumps, I have bad migraines and I can’t move my head.

“I can barely stand up with the pain in my back and neck.

“My hair’s all matted with dried blood. My neck’s too sore to wash my hair and I’m afraid to touch my head.

“Clumps of hair are falling out but.

I’ve been out of work since the attack so I have no money, but I’m going back to work tomorrow.

“It’s embarrassing. My eye’s all blood-shot, I have a black eye.”

Gardaí said that a formal complaint has not yet been lodged but Ms Ryan said she has arranged to give a statement tomorrow.