A woman who accused Conor McGregor of sexually assaulting her has won her civil action against him.
Ms Nikita Hand, who had accused the MMA star of raping her on December 9th 2018, was today told she had won her case – according to RTÉ News, she has been awarded damages of €248,603.60, which includes general and special damages, which include medical expenses.
No exemplary or aggravated damages were included in the overall cost.
Conor McGregor was accompanied in court by family members, including his partner, Dee Devlin, his mother, Margaret McGregor, his sister, Aoife McGregor, and his brother-in-law, Terry Kavanagh.
Nikita Hand has been accompanied by her boyfriend every day.
Nikita Hand has won her civil case against Conor McGregor. Here are the key moments.https://t.co/z9DCZgn3FR
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) November 22, 2024
The jury found that his friend, James Lawrence, did not assault her.
The trial was a civil case in Dublin’s High Court after the Director of Public Prosecutions previously refused to prosecute Mr McGregor criminally.
In the civil action, the Irish sports star was accused of raping former hairdresser Nikita Hand at The Beacon Hotel in south Dublin on December 9th, 2018.
Ms Hand also accused another man, James Lawrence, of sexually assaulting her.
Both men denied her claims, and previously gave evidence that they had consensual sex with Ms Hand.
During the two-week trial, Ms Hand told the court how she was in communication with the sports star via Instagram on the night in question and then over text message.
McGregor picked up the Dubliner and eventually brought her back to a party at a penthouse suite in Dublin’s Beacon Hotel.
Here, Ms Hand claimed she was raped by the fighter.
During her cross-examination, Ms Hand stated that she had lied to her then-partner about where she was going and who she was going with.
She added that she had texted him after the incident and told him she was “having a great time”. Ms Hand said she sent this message to not worry her then-boyfriend.
Ms Hand later left the suite with the co-defendant, however soon returned back to the suite, where she claims she detailed what had happened with the fighter to Mr Lawrence.
Mr Lawrence’s barrister has claimed that he then had sex with the applicant twice, however, Ms Hand said she has “no recollection” of this.
The mother-of-one then left the Beacon Hotel with the co-defendant.
In the High Court Ms Hand’s barrister explained that instead of returning to her home with her partner, she went to her mother’s house, and an ambulance was called.
The court previously heard that the mother-of-one was left with extensive bruises on her body, including on her hands and wrists, a bloodied scratch on her breast and tenderness on her neck after she was allegedly placed in a “choke-hold” by McGregor.
But during his cross-examination, Mr McGregor denied that he caused the bruising across her body, and said they could have been caused when she “swan dived” into the bath in the hotel room.
During the trial, the court was also told that Ms Hand had been using a tampon on the night in question – and had to have it removed by a forceps in hospital after the alleged incident.
In closing arguments on Tuesday, Remy Farrell SC, representing Mr McGregor, told the jury that “what is important is the evidence”.
“The case is not about a hot take, or what colour writers in newspapers say its about, it doesn’t get reduced to one soundbite, it’s about evidence and nothing but the evidence,” he said, according to RTÉ News.
“You may not like Mr McGregor. Mr McGregor is somebody who is hard to avoid, who elicits strong views, some people love him, some people very much do not.
“He’s not backwards about coming forwards with his own opinion about various things.
“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.”
“You may also be unimpressed with a man who leaves family home on Saturday, goes drinking with women in hotel penthouses… they’re all unlikely to endear him to you,” he continued.
“I’m not asking you to like him, I’m asking you to look at the evidence. I’m not asking you to invite him to Sunday lunch, but to interrogate your own views.”
In their closing argument, Nikita Hand’s legal team claimed that Mr McGregor lied throughout the trial about what happened between him and Ms Hand.
They also claimed that he and his co-defendant James Lawrence sought to make Ms Hand look like a “hussy”.
“Mr McGregor, far from dealing with it, has run away from it. There is no answer to his appalling behaviour,” John Gordon SC told the jury.
“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.”
Ms Hand originally made a complaint to Gardai six years ago, but the DPP wrote to her and told her that they would not be pursuing charges and that there would be no criminal trial.
Ms Hand subsequently launched a civil action against McGregor in 2021.
Helplines
If you have been impacted by the details of this report please contact the Rape Crisis Centre 24-Hour National Helpline on 1800 77 8888 or visit https://www.drcc.ie/services/helpline/.
You can also contact Women’s Aid on 1800 341 900 or visit https://www.womensaid.ie/get-help/support-services/.
