Conor McGregor rape accuser telling ‘web of lies’, court hears

A woman who claims she was raped by Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor in a Dublin hotel has been accused of telling a “web of lies” in the hours following the alleged incident.

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

Ms Hand, who has no automatic right to anonymity, has accused Mr McGregor of pinning her to a bed and raping her in a hotel bedroom in south Dublin.

The High Court previously heard that she told her ex-partner in the aftermath of the alleged incident that she cannot say who assaulted her as “he told me he’d kill me”.

Ms Hand, a former hair colourist from Drimnagh in Dublin, refused to reveal the identity of her alleged attacker to her former partner, telling him she was raped and choked three times.

On her fourth day of giving evidence at Dublin’s High Court, Ms Hand was cross-examined by Remy Farrell SC, defence barrister for Mr McGregor.

“You told (former partner) that he told me he’d kill me. That was a reference to McGregor, wasn’t it?” Mr Farrell asked.

“Yes,” she replied.

Mr Farrell said that she never once suggested during subsequent police interviews or in evidence that Mr McGregor threatened to kill her.

“Is that something that happened or didn’t?” Mr Farrell asked.

She told the court she could not remember.

Mr Farrell also questioned Ms Hand over comments she made to her then-partner about being in a taxi with a friend after she left the Beacon Hotel, where she claims she was raped.

Ms Hand admitted that was not true as she had been alone in the taxi, and said that she made the comment to reassure her ex-partner that she was okay.

However, Mr Farrell said the untruth she told her former partner were all “part of a web of lies you were weaving”.

He added: “You were telling lies to (ex-partner) and he was catching you out on some.”

Ms Hand said she had been upset, confused and hurt by what had happened, saying that she did lie to her former partner.

“I was raped and battered a few hours before that so my mind wasn’t perfect at the time,” she told the court.

“I didn’t care about anything at the time. All I cared about was my body and how hurt I was. I didn’t care about anyone else.”

The jury in the civil trial earlier told Justice Alexander Owens that they saw somebody point a mobile phone at them on Thursday from the upstairs public gallery.

In a note handed to the judge, the jury said they were concerned photos would be circulated on social media.

Justice Owens said it was contempt of court to take pictures of the jury and arranged for a garda (police officer) to be present in the gallery.

He said that steps will be taken to deal with anyone suspected of taking photos or filming.

On Friday, John Fitzgerald SC, for James Lawrence, told the court the “strange feature” of this case is that his client is part of these proceedings because of something he said, and not what she claimed.

Mr Fitzgerald said Mr Lawrence, of Rafter’s Road in Drimnagh, “brought himself into the case” by telling the police in January 2019 that he and Ms Hand had consensual sex.

Mr Fitzgerald also put it to Ms Hand that she had sex with Mr McGregor and that the door between the sitting room and the bedroom of the hotel penthouse was open and they could be “heard clearly having sex”.

“They were moaning noises and noises that indicated you were having a good time and not a bad time,” Mr Fitzpatrick said.

He claimed that she was having “pleasurable sex” with Mr McGregor while Mr Lawrence was also having sex with her friend in the next room.

He further claimed that Ms Hand did know her friend and the second defendant were having sex because she saw them.

“I think this is another made-up story,” Ms Hand said.

Mr Fitzgerald also said that Mr Lawrence claims he saw her on top of Mr McGregor having sex.

“Lies,” she said.

Ms Hand also said that Mr Lawrence was lying when he told police she had sex with him twice when they returned to the hotel room after Mr McGregor left.

Ms Hand said: “I think he’s lying.”

Mr Fitzgerald asked: “You think he’s lying about having sex with you?”

“Absolutely,” Ms Hand replied.

The court also heard from Eimer Brennan, who is the manager of the hair salon where Ms Hand was employed.

Ms Hand went to Ms Brennan’s home after she left the hotel in the aftermath of the alleged attack.

Ms Brennan told the court that Ms Hand said she had been raped by Mr McGregor and was left “black and blue”.

She said Ms Hand was “shook and crying”, and that when she took off her coat she could see bruising on her arms, a scrape on her breast and jaw, that her thighs, bottom, knee and knuckles were badly bruised, and there was a mark on her neck.

Ms Brennan said that Ms Hand returned to work, but only for a short time, adding that she couldn’t cope and was not herself anymore.

The court also heard from Detective Sergeant John Ryan who spoke to Ms Hand at the Rotunda Hospital on Monday, December 10.

He described Ms Hand as being “extremely upset and distressed” and “hysterically crying” while he spoke to her.

Detective Ryan said he asked Ms Hand to make a statement but she refused, saying she was not pressing charges against her alleged attacker.

Ms Hand also told the court it was her dream to open up her own salon and that she would love to have more children.

Mr Farrell said that setting up a salon would require a “fair bit” of administration skills, adding that she did not have any specific qualifications.

Ms Hand, however, said she felt she would have such skills to open her own salon.

The court previously heard that Ms Hand has been on disability allowance since the alleged attack and returned to work for a short time, but could not continue her employment due to her mental health.

Ms Hand completed giving evidence on Friday afternoon.