Conor McGregor discovered to have raped girl as verdict given in case in opposition to UFC star
A jury has found UFC star Conor McGregor assaulted and raped a woman in a penthouse hotel suite.
Nikita Hand accused the MMA fighter and boxer of “choking her three times” before “raping her” at the Beacon Hotel in Dublin, Ireland after a Christmas night out on December 9, 2018. McGregor, 36, denied the accusations.
Ms Hand, 35, who is also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, sought damages at Dublin High Court. The trial was a civil case after the Director of Public Prosecutions in Ireland decide not to charge McGregor with any criminal offence.
McGregor claimed he had consensual sex with Ms Hand twice at the hotel – cheating on his fiancee Dee Devlin, who is the mother of his four children. He also claimed in court that Ms Hand had sex with his friend and co-defendant James Lawrence.
Ms Hand said she never had sex with Lawrence. The eight men and four women on the jury sat through eight days of evidence, hearing testimonies from Ms Hand, McGregor and Lawrence – who also denied any wrongdoing – plus doctors and two paramedics.
(Image: Brian Lawless/PA Wire)
The jurors today found McGregor assaulted Ms Hand. However, she lost her lawsuit against McGregor’s friend, James Lawrence, who she also accused of raping her in 2018. The jury found James Lawrence did not assault Nikita Hand.
She has been awarded damages of €188,603.60 plus another €60,000 taking the total damages to €248,603.60, which is around £206,551.
Ms Hand’s legal team told the jury in closing speeches on Tuesday that McGregor was an “arrogant” and “cowardly” man who “savagely” beat Ms Hand and then raped her.
The alleged victim had previously told the court how she “froze” when McGregor “choked me three times”, adding: “I kept thinking I was going to die and I was never going to see my daughter again.”
John Gordon SC (senior counsel) said McGregor had lied about what happened between him and Ms Hand – accusing the UFC star and Lawrence of colluding together to try and make his client look like a “hussy”.
He told the jury: “You’re being sold a pup by this arrogant man.” He added: “What should he have done if he was a man at all is to apologise to my client for what he did to her, he’s not a man, he’s a coward, a devious coward and you should treat him for what he is.”
(Image: PA)
Ms Hand told jurors how she bit McGregor during the alleged incident. The former hair colourist said she later asked a friend to take photographs of bruising she had suffered, but then changed her mind and requested she delete them. The jury was shown text messages in which Ms Hand said she was “not pressing charges 100%” and considered herself “lucky to be alive”.
Mr Gordon argued paramedics, psychologists and doctors all supported Ms Hand’s version of events, including that she continues to suffer from PTSD after the alleged events. She has since split up with her boyfriend and moved home.
Remy Farrell SC (senior counsel), representing McGregor, told jurors that it did not matter if they “loathe” his client, adding that “what is important is the evidence”.
He said: “It may be the case some, a lot, most of you, have negative views about Mr McGregor, some of you may even loathe him, there’s no point pretending it may be otherwise. It’s important I address that.”
(Image: PA)
Mr Farrell said jurors “may also be unimpressed with a man who leaves his family home on Saturday, goes drinking with women in hotel penthouses… they’re all unlikely to endear him to you”. He added: “I’m not asking you to like him, I’m asking you to look at the evidence.”
He accused Ms Hand of “inventing” her account of what happened that night and suggested her allegations were “an elaborate fabrication”.
In a Republic of Ireland civil action – as opposed to a criminal case – neither the complainant nor the accused are entitled to automatic anonymity during the court proceedings.
The court heard it was decided by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in mid-2020 not to bring any charges against McGregor in respect of Ms Hand’s allegations – something the hairdresser said left her “devastated”.
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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.
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.
