Conor McGregor rape accuser thought she would never see her daughter again

A woman who has accused Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor of raping her has told a court she thought she would never see her young daughter again when the MMA star was “choking” her.

Nikita Ni Laimhin, who is also known as Nikita Hand, is claiming civil damages against Mr McGregor and another man, alleging she was sexually assaulted in December 2018.

Ms Ni Laimhin has accused Mr McGregor of pinning her to a bed and raping her in a hotel in Dublin.

On her second day of giving evidence to the High Court in Dublin, she said that, as she was being attacked, she “froze and couldn’t move or breathe”.

Ms Ni Laimhin broke down several times as she gave evidence and sought a number of breaks.

The court heard that Ms Ni Laimhin had to leave her job as a hairdresser and has not been able to work since due to her mental health, that her relationship with her partner ended months after the alleged incident, she had to move out of her home in Drimnagh, and her mortgage is now in arrears.

She also told the court 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 euro on GP, pharmacy and psychotherapist costs.

The mother-of-one was left with extensive bruises and abrasions over her body, including purple and blue bruising along her hands and wrists, a bloodied scratch to her breast and tenderness to her neck after she was placed in a “choke-hold” by Mr McGregor, the court was told.

The court previously heard that lawyers for Mr McGregor will say that what took place between him and Ms Ni Laimhin – who has no automatic right to anonymity – was consensual.

Ms Ni Laimhin had been at the hotel with Mr McGregor, second defendant James Lawrence, her friend and a number of the MMA star’s security guards in December 2018.

In response to questions from John Gordon SC, her defence barrister, Ms Ni Laimhin said she was “disappointed and upset” that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided not to prosecute both defendants after she made a complaint to the Irish police.

In a letter sent to Ms Ni Laimhin in August 2020, the DPP said there was “insufficient evidence” and there was not a reasonable prospect of conviction.

Ms Ni Laimhin asked the DPP to review the decision, saying she felt she was being treated differently because one of the suspects was a famous person.

On the second day of her evidence, Ms Ni Laimhin struggled as she described how Mr McGregor had pinned her to the bed in the hotel and pressed his whole body weight on her.

Visibly shaking, she apologised to the court, saying she was upset.

She said Mr McGregor’s body weight was on top of her and she could not breathe.

She said she had held up both hands and was trying to get away from him, but the more she struggled, the more he appeared to like it.

“I’m trying my best, I’m really sorry”, she told the court.

“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 added: “I’m really struggling with this. I am sorry.”

Following a break, she told the court she had been standing against the bed and Mr McGregor had tried to come on to her.

She said she told him she “wasn’t there for that”.

“He pinned me to the bed and I held my hands to my chest and he put his whole body weight on top of me and I couldn’t breathe,” she said.

“The only thing I could move was my head and I bit him and tried my best to get away from him. I tried to shove him and wiggle and do whatever I could.

“I remember biting really hard and then his arms were around me and choking me.

“I was trying to fight as much as I could. He put his arm around my neck and choked me three times.

“I just froze and I couldn’t move or breathe and I kept looking at the bedpost and thinking of my daughter.

“I just kept thinking I would die and not see my daughter again.

“He let me go and I remember saying I was sorry, as I felt that I did something wrong and I wanted to reassure him that I wouldn’t tell anyone so he wouldn’t hurt me again.

“Then he said that’s how he felt when he was in the Octagon and had to tap out three times. I thought it was such a weird thing to say.

“I promised I wouldn’t tell anybody anything.

“Then I just let him do whatever he needed to do so I could survive. My mind was completely gone and I wasn’t myself anymore.

“He was really aggressive and pulling at my clothes and shoving my head down to do things and I kept pulling my head back.

“He was trying to push my head down to his penis but I pushed my head back.

“He was pulling my clothes down. He then raped me. I felt like it was going on for ages.”

She paused to add: “I’m finding it really hard. I am sorry.”

Ms Ni Laimhin went on: “Then it was over. It was done.

“When he was raping me I was completely numb. I didn’t feel anything. I completely froze.”

She said she fell asleep on the bed in the hotel room and woke up later “in a panic” and went to find her phone in her bag.

Mr McGregor’s barrister Remy Farrell put it to Ms Ni Laimhin that she had deceived her then partner by telling him “a lie” about where she was.

The court was told that Ms Ni Laimhin texted her partner on the evening of December 9 saying she was at the Goat Grill in south Dublin with friends.

Ms Ni Laimhin said she did not want to tell him where she was or who she was with because she “didn’t want to worry” him.

Earlier on Wednesday, the court heard that the group had all left the hotel room, with Mr McGregor leaving with Ms Ni Laimhin’s friend, but she returned to the room with Mr Lawrence, where she saw the bruises on her body and broke down.

She told the court that she told Mr Lawrence: “You all turn a blind eye to what Conor does to women.”

After showing him the bruises on her body, she claimed he said: “I can’t believe you were in that room and I was here while that was happening to you.”

Ms Ni Laimhin said she was shocked when she learned that Mr Lawrence had claimed the pair of them had consensual sex in the hotel room.

She told the court she thought he was being nice to her and looking out for her.

On Wednesday afternoon, the jury was shown CCTV footage of the group arriving and leaving the hotel at around 6pm on Sunday, December 9.

Footage shows Ms Ni Laimhin and Mr Lawrence going back into the hotel and then leaving by taxi shortly before 10.30pm.

Ms Ni Laimhin told the court she has “no memory” of any of the footage which was played.

The case continues.