MMA fighter loses enchantment in civil rape case

Conor McGregor has misplaced his civil jury enchantment towards a discovering that he sexually assaulted a lady.

In November, McGregor was ordered to pay £206,000 in damages plus prices to Nikita Hand, who accused him of raping her in a resort in Dublin in 2018.

McGregor appealed on the grounds that his attorneys believed his solutions to police throughout interviews mustn’t have been put earlier than the jury.

His barrister additionally argued {that a} query on the “concern paper” given to the jury to assist them determine their verdict ought to have been worded in another way.

Three senior judges on the Court docket of Attraction in Dublin dismissed the enchantment on all grounds.

Conor McGregor was not in court docket for the ruling.

Nikita Hand attended the listening to with a number of supporters.

In relation to the police interviews, the court docket discovered McGregor’s attorneys had not proved there was “an actual threat of unfair trial”.

Through the unique case, the jury heard that McGregor mentioned “no remark” round 100 occasions when he was interviewed by police.

The problem paper requested the jurors if Conor McGregor had assaulted Ms Hand.

McGregor’s attorneys argued it ought to have specified “sexual assault” slightly than “assault”.

However the enchantment judges mentioned that it was “merely unreal” to counsel that any member of the jury might have change into confused about that means of the query.

They gave a unanimous ruling that McGregor’s enchantment ought to be dismissed “in its entirety”.

McGregor’s pal, James Lawrence, additionally misplaced his enchantment towards the choice that he ought to pay prices, although the jury discovered he didn’t assault Nikita Hand.

Ms Hand had claimed in her motion that Conor McGregor and James Lawrence each raped her.

The boys mentioned they each had consensual intercourse along with her.

Talking exterior court docket, Ms Hand mentioned she was grateful for the help she has acquired all through the civil motion.

“This enchantment has retraumatised me again and again, being pressured to relive it, what occurred has had a huge effect on me,” she mentioned.

Ms Hand added: “To each survivor on the market, I understand how onerous it’s, however please, do not be silenced.

“You need to be heard, you additionally deserve justice. Right now, I can lastly transfer on and attempt to heal.”

The enchantment was primarily based round a number of points arising from the civil trial at Dublin’s Excessive Court docket final yr.

They included reference to the query “did Conor McGregor assault Nikita Hand?” being requested of the jury on the difficulty paper.

Conor McGregor’s authorized staff mentioned it ought to have specified sexual assault.

Nevertheless, a barrister for Ms Hand mentioned “assault” covers all kinds of assaults including “what we have been coping with was assault by rape”.

He added the query put to the jury “was agreed and the jury couldn’t have been confused by it”.

McGregor was additionally interesting a problem across the dealing with of his solutions in interviews with gardaí (Irish law enforcement officials).

His authorized staff defined that the jury heard McGregor gave about 100 “no remark” solutions to gardaí.

His barrister mentioned he had a proper to silence in police interviews and it was “left hanging”, permitting the jury to attract an opposed inference.

Ms Hand’s authorized staff countered this argument by saying that if this was such a critical concern for McGregor on the time “absolutely an utility to discharge the jury would have been made”.

Her barrister mentioned such an utility was not made.

McGregor’s authorized enchantment was additionally elevating a problem in regards to the decide’s cost to the jury in the course of the civil trial.

Initially of the method, Eire’s Court docket of Attraction was advised that McGregor had withdrawn an application to have new proof entered on the enchantment.

The proposed proof was from a pair, Samantha O’Reilly and Steven Cummins, who’re former neighbours of Nikita Hand.

A earlier preliminary listening to was advised that they claimed to have witnessed a row between Ms Hand and her former accomplice Stephen Redmond in December 2018.

The court docket heard McGregor believed the brand new proof advised that bruising on Nikita Hand’s physique might have been brought on by her former accomplice.

In an affidavit, Ms Hand had described the allegations as unfaithful and lies.

The senior judges mentioned it was “considerably mysterious” that what they described as an “vital and contentious” a part of the enchantment had been “forged apart”.

They awarded Ms Hand prices in relation to this facet of the case.