Nikita Hand has won her High Court case against MMA fighter Conor McGregor.
A jury at the High Court found Mr McGregor raped Ms Hand in a hotel in Dublin in December 2018 and awarded her almost €250,000 in damages.
The jury found that Mr McGregor’s friend, James Lawrence did not rape Ms Hand.
Her lawyers had alleged that he had falsely claimed he had sex with Ms Hand on the same day in order to damage her character.
Ms Hand claimed she was raped in the Beacon Hotel in Dublin on 9 December 2018 by Mr McGregor.
She said Mr McGregor would not take no for an answer, pinned her down and choked her three times before brutally raping her, leaving her with severe bruising.
Mr Lawrence claimed he had sex with her after Mr McGregor left. Ms Hand said she had no memory of this.
The next morning she had to have a tampon removed by a doctor in hospital using a forceps.
The doctor described her as having a multitude of injuries which he categorised as “moderate to severe”.
Both men accused Ms Hand of lying. Mr McGregor said Ms Hand was “full of lies”.
He said he had consensual sex with her which he described as athletic and vigorous. He said there was no tampon and the bruising on her body did not come from him.
Mr Lawrence said he also had consensual sex with Ms Hand after Mr McGregor left.
He said there was no tampon and no bruising other than a small bruise on her leg or arm. He denied being a “fall guy” for Mr McGregor or involved in collusion to make Ms Hand look bad.
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The jury had to decide if Mr McGregor and/or Mr Lawrence had assaulted Ms Hand, before going on to assess damages.
The jury did not award aggravated or exemplary damages against Mr McGregor but awarded general damages and special damages totalling almost €250,000.
Jury spent over six hours deliberating
After eight days of evidence and three days listening to closing speeches and the judge’s charge, the jury of eight women and four men spent six hours and 10 minutes deliberating before returning their verdict.
Mr McGregor shook his head after the jury read out that Ms Hand had won her case against him.
Mr McGregor was accompanied by his family, including his partner Dee Devlin, parents, sister and brother-in-law.
He sat in the back row of the court between his partner and his mother, Margaret.
Ms Hand, 35, cried and was hugged by her partner and supporters.
A number of gardaí were in the courtroom as the verdict was delivered.
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Ms Hand thanked her partner and family for their support.
Ms Hand said the weeks of her civil case against Mr McGregor have been a “nightmare”.
“I would like to start off by saying I’m overwhelmed and touched by the support I have received from everybody.”
She thanked her legal team, the judge and jury, gardaí and paramedics, as well as doctors and nurses who provided her treatment and the Rape Crisis Centre.
Speaking to reporters outside the court, Ms Hand added: “I want to thank all the women and men out there who have supported me throughout this trial.
“For every person who reached out to me, a card, a letter, an email, everything, it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Thank you, I really appreciate it so much.”
Earlier, as the judge returned to the courtroom, Mr McGregor could be heard breathing loudly and heavily.
Justice Alexander Owens warned those in the court to remain calm before the jury were called back.
“I understand the jury has a verdict,” Justice Owens said.
“I want everyone to remain calm. I want no scenes. Anyone who makes a scene will find themselves in jail.”
The case, which opened on 5 November, had previously heard that on the day of the attack, Ms Hand and her work colleague, Danielle Kealy, went to the penthouse suite with Mr McGregor and Mr Lawrence after their work Christmas party.
They had given evidence that they had been partying all night from 8 December and into the morning of 9 December, and had been heavily drinking and taking cocaine.
Ms Hand, a mother-of-one, told the court how Mr McGregor had pinned her to the bed in the hotel bedroom before assaulting her.
During her evidence to the court, Ms Hand said she thought she would never see her young daughter again when the MMA star was “choking” her.
The court heard that as she was being attacked, she “froze and couldn’t move or breathe”.
She said she had held up both hands and had tried to get away from him, but said the more she struggled, the more he appeared to like it.
“The only thing I could move was my head. I bit him but I can’t remember where. He didn’t like it, so he flipped me around and put his arm around my neck and choked me,” she said.
Ms Hand was left with extensive bruises and abrasions over her body, including purple and blue bruising along her hands and wrists, a bloodied scratch on her breast and tenderness on her neck, after she said she was placed in a “chokehold” by Mr McGregor.
Mr McGregor denied he caused the bruising across her body, saying they could have been caused when she “swan dived” into the bath in the hotel room.
The court heard Ms Hand suffered serious physical and psychological injuries as a result of the attack by Mr McGregor and that she had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Ms Hand was taken in an ambulance to the Rotunda Hospital the following day where she was assessed in the sexual assault treatment unit (SATU).
A paramedic who examined Ms Hand the day after the assault had told the court she had not seen “someone so bruised” in a long time.
Ms Hand had also been worried about a tampon she had been wearing on the night she was assaulted.
Dr Daniel Kane, a gynaecologist as well as a forensic examiner in sexual assault cases, explained how he had to use forceps to remove the tampon which had been “wedged inside”.
Ms Hand broke down several times as she gave evidence for almost three days and sought a number of breaks.
The jury had been told Ms Hand had to leave her job as a hairdresser and has not been able to work since, because of her mental health, that her relationship with her partner ended months after the incident, she had to move out of her home in Drimnagh, and her mortgage is now in arrears.
She also said she had to stop seeing a counsellor because she could no longer afford to pay for the sessions.
The court also heard that she has spent more than €4,000 on GP, pharmacy and psychotherapist costs.
Any readers affected by the issues raised in this reporting can access helpline information here (scroll down to the second section, Abuse/Domestic Violence), or contact Dublin Rape Crisis Centre helpline on 01 800 77 8888.
Additional reporting PA
