Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor outside the High Court at Dublin, where he appeared for a personal injury case against him. Photo / Getty Images
Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor outside the High Court at Dublin, where he appeared for a personal injury case against him. Photo / Getty Images
Conor McGregor, the Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter, must pay nearly €250,000 ($464,000) in damages to a woman who accused him of rape in Dublin in 2018, a jury decided today.
The 36-year-old fighter previously told Dublin’s High Court he had consensual sex with Nikita Hand ina penthouse at the Beacon Hotel in December 2018.
Hand alleged McGregor pinned her down, choked her three times and “brutally raped and battered” her.
McGregor shook his head as the jury of eight women and four men found him liable of assaulting Hand following six hours and 10 minutes of deliberation.
Speaking outside of court after the decision, Hand said the last few weeks had been a “nightmare”.
McGregor did not comment as he left the courthouse but broke his silence with a post on X, formerly Twitter.
He wrote: “I will be appealing today’s decision. The judge’s instruction and the modest award given was for assault, not for aggravated or exemplary damages.
“I am disappointed that the jury did not hear all the evidence that the DPP [Director of Public Prosecutions] reviewed.
“I am with my family now, focused on my future. Thank you to all my support worldwide.”
Hand was left with purple and blue bruising along her hands and wrists, a bloodied scratch to her breast and a sore neck, the jury was told.
I will be appealing today's decision. The judge's instruction and the modest award given was for assault, not for aggravated or exemplary damages. I am disappointed that the jury did not hear all the evidence that the DPP reviewed. I am with my family now, focused on my future.…
Her lawyer told the jury that when she was referred to a sexual assault treatment unit the day after the alleged assault, a doctor was so concerned he ordered photographs to be taken of her injuries.
Hand said that she and a friend met McGregor, whom she had spoken with on social media, after attending a Christmas party.
The MMA star then drove Hand and her friend to a party in a penthouse room at the Beacon Hotel, where there were drugs and alcohol, the trial was told.
'I want to show Freya, and every other girl and boy that you can stand up for yourself if something happens to you, no matter who the person is - and justice will be served'
McGregor’s lawyers hit back by accusing Hand of “extortion” and asked the jury to look at the evidence rather than his character.
The lawyers pointed to CCTV footage of the woman arriving at and leaving the hotel with McGregor and James Lawrence, who she also accused of sexual assault.
