Conor McGregor loses appeal against jury finding in Nikita Hand case

Mr McGregor had taken the appeal against the jury finding from the case last November, in which Ms Hand alleged he had raped her. The jury awarded Ms Hand €250,000 in damages

Conor McGregor outside the High Court in Dublin. File picture: Niall Carson/PA Wire

MMA fighter Conor McGregor has lost his appeal against the jury finding in a High Court case, in which Nikita Hand alleged he raped her in a Dublin hotel in 2018.

Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, Mr Justice Michael MacGrath and Mr Justice Brian O’Moore delivered their judgment at the Court of Appeal, with the latter summarising it and concluding they decided to “dismiss the appeal in its entirety”.

Mr McGregor’s co-defendant and friend James Lawrence also failed in his bid to have Ms Hand pay his legal costs arising from the High Court case.

It means that Mr McGregor will be paying Ms Hand’s sizeable costs and she remains entitled to the €250,000 in damages awarded by a jury last November.

Ms Hand had taken the case against the MMA fighter, suing for damages after alleging he had raped her in the Beacon Hotel in south Dublin in December 2018.

Mr McGregor denied the allegations and claimed they had “vigorous” and “energetic” consensual sex on that occasion. 

Mr Lawrence, meanwhile, also claimed he had consensual sex with Ms Hand but she told the jury she had no memory of sexual contact with him.

The jury found that Mr McGregor, who told the court he had consensual sex with Ms Hand, civilly liable for assault.

In his appeal, Mr McGregor raised numerous grounds but spectacularly withdrew one of the main ones – namely fresh evidence – on the day that the appeal got under way in July.

This evidence was said to have been from neighbours of Nikita Hand at that time in December 2018. 

In a sworn affidavit, Samanatha O’Reilly claimed she had witnessed an altercation between Ms Hand and her then-partner in their home around the time of the alleged events in the Beacon Hotel.

Ms Hand described the claims as lies in an affidavit but never had the chance to defend herself against the claim in court as McGregor’s side withdrew this ground of their appeal at the outset.

On the back of this, barrister John Gordon, acting for Ms Hand, said that Mr McGregor should face a charge of inducing others to commit perjury on his behalf and the judges indicated they would refer this withdrawal of evidence to the DPP. 

Mr Gordon also said Ms Hand had been “put through the wringer” by the allegation.

Mr Justice O’Moore said the way in which the evidence was abandoned “remains mysterious” and noted the court’s “displeasure and disapproval” with these matters.

The judges determined that Ms Hand was entitled to extra costs from Mr McGregor in this regard, given she had to form a defence for this “fresh evidence” which was then withdrawn at the last minute.

Another ground for the appeal centered on the 'issue paper' given to the jury, which included questions they would need to answer to reach their verdict.

Mr McGregor's legal team said the judge in the original case – Mr Justice Alexander Owens - should have asked the jury whether they believed Ms Hand had been “sexually assaulted” rather than “assaulted” which was on the issue paper.

The Court of Appeal judges said that the charge made to the jury was that the central allegation by Ms Hand was that Mr McGregor had raped her. 

Mr Justice O’Moore said it was “unreal” to suggest that the jury “became confused” by the question given the clarity offered by Mr Justice Owens in this regard.

Separately, Mr McGregor’s legal team said Mr Justice Owens shouldn’t have permitted a line of questioning against the MMA fighter regarding his frequent “no comment” answers to gardaí.

Speaking to the jury, Mr Justice Owens told them they should disregard this on several occasions and they shouldn’t consider this as supportive of Ms Hand’s case.

The Court of Appeal judges said that the risk of an unfair trial was “not demonstrated” and dismissed this ground.

In dismissing all the grounds, they further awarded Ms Hand the costs of the case at the Court of Appeal as well as the High Court. 

It was previously heard that costs were estimated at over €1.3m.

Regarding Mr Lawrence, the Court of Appeal decided that he should be not be awarded his costs against Ms Hand despite the jury’s verdict that he did not assault her but came to a different conclusion to the original judge as to why.

Mr Justice O’Moore said that the jury must not have accepted Mr Lawrence’s claims he had consensual sex with Ms Hand. 

Alongside that, they took into consideration that Mr McGregor was paying all Mr Lawrence’s legal costs.

To make an award for costs to Mr Lawrence, the judge said, it may be passed on to Mr McGregor and this should be taken into account.

Neither Mr McGregor nor Mr Lawrence were present in court. 

Following the delivery of the judgment, Ms Hand was embraced by supporters and her legal team before giving a brief statement to reporters outside the Four Courts in Dublin.

“Today I can finally move on and try to heal,” she said.

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