Ex-MMA Fighter Conor McGregor Has Lost His Appeal Against A Verdict He Raped This Irish Woman
In November 2024, a jury found McGregor guilty of sexually assaulting 35-year-old Irish woman, Nikita Hand, and ordered him to pay her US$257,000 in damages.
MMA fighter Conor McGregor has lost an appeal to overturn a court’s order that he compensate a woman who he raped.
In November 2024, a jury found McGregor guilty of sexually assaulting 35-year-old Irish woman, Nikita Hand, and ordered him to pay her US$257,000 in damages.
Hand said McGregor raped her in a hotel in Dublin on Dec. 9, 2018 after a Christmas party where Hand and a friend were picked up by McGregor, who shared cocaine with them during the ride to the hotel, according to AP.
Hand testified that she repeatedly told McGregor she did not want to have sex and that she was on her period.
However, he allegedly restrained her on the bed, placed her in a chokehold and threatened her life during the assault.
A paramedic who examined Hand testified that she had never before seen someone with that intensity of bruising.
Doctors had to surgically remove a tampon wedged at the top of her vagina.
Hand said she was unable to work due to the trauma of the attack, causing her to fall behind on her mortgage and move out of her house.
Hand initially tried to pursue criminal charges against McGregor in 2020, but the case was dismissed due to insufficient evidence.
This led Hand to seek justice through civil court, where she ultimately succeeded in proving her case against McGregor.
Under Irish law, Hand did not have the anonymity she would have been granted in a criminal proceeding and was named publicly throughout the trial.
McGregor, however, denied raping and bruising Hand and said he had “fully consensual sex” withher, appealing the case.
On Thursday, July 31, a court in Dublin dismissed McGregor’s appeal “in its entirety”, upholding the original verdict and awarding the damages to Hand.
"To every survivor out there, I know how hard it is but please don't be silenced. You deserve to be heard, you also deserve justice. Today, I can finally move on and try to heal," Hand said outside of the court following the verdict.
McGregor did not show up at the appeal hearing.
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