A FORENSIC ANALYST who examined the clothes worn by a woman who alleges she was sexually assaulted by Conor McGregor has told the High Court that the straps of her jumpsuit had damages that were “consistent with pulling” and not normal wear and tear.
Nikita Hand (Ní Laimhín) alleges that McGregor “sexually assaulted her, and in effect, raped her” in a hotel penthouse in Dublin on 9 December 2018, and that a second defendant, James Lawrence, of Rafter’s Road, Drimnagh, “did likewise”, Mr Justice Alexander Owens told the jury on the first day of the civil trial.
The allegations in the action are fully denied.
The action was brought in 2021 against McGregor. The civil trial is expected to last until next week.
Dr Charlotte Murphy, a forensic scientist with Forensic Science Ireland, gave evidence this morning on the sixth day of the civil trial.
Murphy examined DNA samples from Hand, McGregor and Lawrence. She also examined the clothing that Hand was wearing on the night of the alleged assault.
She told the court that DNA obtained from Hand’s vaginal area was “a thousand million times more likely” to have originated from Conor McGregor rather than from an unknown person.
She told the court that McGregor’s DNA was also found on Hand’s underwear and on the jumpsuit that she was wearing on the night of the alleged assault.
Murphy also examined Hand’s clothing for damage. She told the court that both straps of the jumpsuit were ripped and that the damage appeared recent. “In my opinion, this was not the result of normal wear and tear but caused by pulling,” she said.
She said that no damage was observed on Hand’s underwear, bra or coat. She told the court that blood was observed on Hand’s vaginal swabs and underwear.
Under cross-examination from Farrell, Murphy told the court that it is not scientifically possible to address the issue of consent from DNA samples.
John McMahon, the co-owner of the salon where Hand worked at the time of the alleged assault, also gave evidence in court.
He said that Hand had trained at the salon and been employed there since March 2007. He said she was on leave for around three years when she had her daughter and returned to work there in September 2014.
McMahon told the court that she was earning €400 gross pay per week with around €100 in tips per week.
He said that she took two months off after the alleged assault and returned to work in February 2019, before leaving her position in May 2019.
“She worked four days a week for a time, but she struggled. She struggled and became less reliable. There were no shows two days a week sometimes and then eventually she resigned in May 2019,” he told the court.
McMahon said Hand was not overly ambitious “but she was good and she knew she was good”. He said she hadn’t built up a good clientele and was generally doing hair colouring for the other stylists at the salon. He said he would have expected her to have built up a clientele had she stayed working there.
He told the court that if she had stayed working there, she would have been earning €750 a week with tips on top of that.
The court also heard from Patrick Sheehan, a property valuer, who valued a house in Drimnagh which Hand owned with her former partner.
He valued the property at around €430,000 in June this year. He also provided valuations for potential properties outside the Drimnagh area, which he said were between €500,000 and €700,000.
A vocational assessor and occupational therapist, Elva Breen, also gave evidence in court. She told the court that her role is to look at the barriers people face when they are seeking to return to work.
She said that she saw Hand in December 2020 to assess the impact of her injuries. She said she had symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
She told the court that Hand was a qualified hairdresser specialising in hair colouring and that she had taken time out from her workplace from 2011 to 2014 when she had her daughter.
She said that Hand attempted to return to work two months after the alleged assault. She said Hand had panic attacks, anxiety and flashbacks, and “lost the ability to communicate with clients in the way that she had before”.
She said Hand was tearful and emotionally fragile and work “became a very difficult place for her to be”.
Breen told the court that Hand handed in her notice in May 2019. She said that in her opinion, this was unusual “because when people are unwell, they go on certified sick leave”.
“You don’t just hand in your notice when you’re unwell,” Breen said, adding that it was “not the normal course for anyone who was sick”.
She told the court that Hand had ambitions to continue working in the salon where she was employed, that she was “very keen” to become an expert colourist and she was “very happy in her workplace”.
Breen said that in her opinion, Hand was not fit for competitive employment in December 2020.
She said that she advised Hand to investigate retraining and look for a role that not customer facing, which would be triggering for her.
Breen said she met Hand in April of this year. She said she had been awarded Disability Allowance of €160, which is means tested, and she said this demonstrates Hand’s level of incapacity.
Breen said Hand returned to work in February 2023 as a cleaner, working two hours a day from 8am to 10am Monday to Friday.
She said that Hand left this job in December 2023 after she began experiencing increased anxiety and having panic attacks.
Breen said that in February this year, Hand attempted to return to work as a hairdresser in a different salon, which was in walking distance to her home and which allowed her to work within the confines of her Disability Allowance.
She said Hand was working one long day and one half day. She said Hand “found this role extremely anxiety-provoking”.
“Returning to work in a salon was very triggering for her,” Breen said, adding that Hand went to her GP and was certified unfit for work in March 2024.
Breen told the court that from her assessment, she did not believe that Hand would ever be fit to return to the work she was doing in the salon before the alleged assault in December 2018.
She said it was her view that she needs a “safe” and “predictable” work environment where she does not have to deal with the public face-to-face on a daily basis. “Customer-facing roles will be too challenging for her,” she said.
She said that part-time administration work would be suitable. She said at entry level, Hand could expect to earn €14,000 to €15,000 with one year of experience and between €15,000 to €16,000 with over three years’ experience.
Under cross-examination by Shelley Horan BL, for McGregor, Breen told the court that she was aware that Hand had attended her doctor during 2017 and 2018 for back pain and increasing anxiety in respect of a road traffic collision in 2016.
Breen said she was provided with Hand’s GP records.
Horan put it to Breen that had Hand’s back and neck pain remained, it would have affected her ability to work as a hairdresser.
Breen said it would depend how she recovered. She said a lot of people would have bad backs from injuries but that people do recover and go back to work.
Peter Byrne, an actuary, was also called as a witness. His role was to provide calculations for Hand’s estimated loss of earnings depending on what work pathway could have been taken, including on reduced and higher earnings.
His calculations of a loss of earnings between now and when she turned 66 would range from €198,441 to €962,655.
The civil trial, before Mr Justice Alexander Owens and a jury of eight women and four men, continues.
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