'That's not an empty threat': Man pleads guilty to harassing woman on Instagram

Craig O’Brien, 30, was previously jailed for an 'unprovoked and unwarranted attack' on an influencer in 2023

Craig O’Brien pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to making a threat to kill or cause serious harm and harassment on dates between July 22, 2024, and September 1, 2024.

A man previously jailed for assaulting a social media influencer made repeated threats to kill or cause serious harm to a woman on Instagram, a court has heard.

Craig O’Brien, aged 30, sent messages to the woman threatening to “butcher” her and saying “I swear to God, I’m gonna kill you”. He also threatened “to blow her and her boyfriend’s head off” and said he was going to kill her boyfriend “stone dead”.

“I’ll pay some crack head butcher and you won’t know where it came from,” he wrote in private messages to the woman’s Instagram account.

In 46 messages sent on three separate dates between July 27, 2024 and September 1, 2024, he called the woman a “dumb tramp”, a “stupid bitch”, and a “dirty rat”.

In one message he threatened to carry out an “acid attack” on her face, saying “that’s not an empty threat”. In other messages he said he would “stalk” her online “until you fuck up” and turn on the location information on her account.

Detective Garda Anthony Cunningham told Lisa Dempsey, prosecuting, that the woman took the threats seriously and felt unsafe as a result.

O’Brien, of Comet Rd., Ballyfermot, Dublin 10, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to making a threat to kill or cause serious harm and harassment on dates between July 22, 2024, and September 1, 2024.

The offence of harassment comes with statutory restrictions preventing publication of any material likely to identify the victim by anyone other than the victim.

O’Brien was previously handed a sentence of two years and three months with the final nine months suspended for 18 months for an “unprovoked and unwarranted attack” on an influencer in 2023.

During his arrest for this offence, O’Brien told gardaí that “influencers were ganging up on him and harassing him, and they [influencers] deserved it”. 

Miska Hanahoe, defending, told the court then that her client was in a drug-induced psychosis at the time and he genuinely believed that social media influencers were out to get him.

O’Brien has 12 previous convictions including two for assault.

In relation to the later offending, Det Garda Cunningham told Fionnuala O’Sullivan, defending, that O’Brien and the victim were not personally known to each other prior to the offending.

Ms O’Sullivan said  her client cannot explain why he contacted the victim but that “alcohol was almost definitely a factor”. 

She said his instructions are they he doesn’t specifically remember much of the offending and accepts he did it and said it was disgusting and unforgiveable behaviour.

Counsel said O’Brien went into custody in March 2025 for these offences and that he has been making “huge efforts” to rehabilitate himself while on remand.

Judge Orla Crowe said this was a very serious case. She ordered a risk assessment from the Probation Service and adjourned the case to January 15 next for finalisation.