Conor McGregor’s alleged rape sufferer says she ‘could not breathe’ in ‘chokehold assault’

A woman claims Conor McGregor “choked her three times” before “raping her” in a penthouse hotel suite.

Nikita Hand is seeking damages in a civil case over the alleged attack the 35-year-old says she suffered at the hands of UFC star McGregor, 36, and his associate James Lawrence, at the Beacon Hotel in Dublin, Ireland on February 9, 2018.

Ms Hand told the High Court in Dublin that MMA fighter McGregor “raped me” and that it “felt like it was going on for ages,” reports the Irish Star. Asked by her lawyer, Ray Boland Senior Counsel (SC), if McGregor hurt her, she said: “When he was raping me I was completely numb.”

She told the court: “I didn’t feel anything. But he hurt me when he choked me, pressing down on my body. I just completely froze.”

The court heard it was decided by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in mid-2020 not to bring any charges against Mr McGregor in respect of Ms Hand’s allegations – something the former hair colourist, of Drimnagh, Dublin, said left her “devastated”.

Ms Hand, who the court heard was twice interviewed by police in Ireland in 2019, said she wrote a letter with the assistance of the Rape Crisis Centre and called on the DPP to review the decision, which she said left her “shocked and very disappointed”.

The court heard the DPP responded in August 2020, setting out that its lawyer had reviewed the case and decided there was not “sufficient evidence available” to proceed with a prosecution. However, Ms Hand said the DDP had not provided any real reason as to why it chose not to prosecute the case.

The DPP stood by its original decision not to prosecute following a second review. Ms Hand was told by the DPP it was not a question “of who we as prosecutors believe” but “the strength of the evidence to secure conviction”.

The court heard the DPP also rejected a claim made by Ms Hand that she was being treated differently because of McGregor’s fame. The DPP said the “identity of the suspects had no bearing” on its decision.

Ms Hand told the court she was sitting on the bed when McGregor put his arm around her neck and “choked me three times”. She said: “I just froze and I couldn’t move and I couldn’t breathe. I looked at the bedpost and was thinking about my daughter. I kept thinking I was going to die and I was never going to see my daughter again.

Ms Hand alleged McGregor turned her around and she bit him. She said: “I was trying to fight as much as I could. I bit him and he didn’t like it, it was like he was just behind me then. He choked me, put his arm around me. I just remember him behind me and I think I was sitting on the bed. He put his arm around my neck and choked me three times.”

The alleged victim said the third choke lasted longer and was “more strong”, adding: “I just completely thought I was going to die.” Ms Hand told the court McGregor then let her go and she apologised to him, before promising she wouldn’t say anything and allowing him to do what he wanted, for the sake of survival.

Ms Hand told the court she later asked a friend to take photographs of bruising she had suffered during the alleged incident, but then changed her mind and requested she delete them. The jury was then shown text messages exchanged by Ms Hand and her friend, in which Ms Hand said she was “not pressing charges 100%” and that she considered herself “lucky to be alive”.

The complainant, who said she fears for her life and has since split up with her boyfriend and moved home, was then cross-examined by Remy Farrell SC, representing McGregor. Mr Farrell referenced her first police interview, in which she admitted to consuming a considerable amount of alcohol that night and also taking cocaine.

The trial continues today.