A JURY HAS been sworn in to hear a woman’s damages claim against Mixed Martial Arts fighter Conor McGregor. 

Nikita Ní Laimhín alleges that McGregor “sexually assaulted her, and in effect, raped her” on 9 December 2018, and that a second defendant, James Laurence, “did likewise”, Mr Justice Alexander Owens told the jury this morning. 

The allegations in the action are fully denied.

The action was brought in 2021 against McGregor, who is present in court.

The civil trial is being presided over by Mr Justice Owens. It is expected to last two weeks.

A jury of eight women and four men was sworn in this morning.

Addressing the jury, Mr Justice Owens said that the matter was not a criminal case but a civil action for assault, where the standard of proof is the balance of probabilities. 

He said that those summoned to act as jurors would be “judges of fact”.

“You decide what happened and you do that by reference to the evidence. The evidence is what you hear in court,” he said. 

“Anything that you hear or see about this trial or the circumstances surrounding the case that is not received by you is not evidence, and cannot be considered by you.”

Mr Justice Owens told the jurors not to discuss the case with anyone outside of the court, and to avoid reading about the case in the media or on the internet. 

He advised the jury that failure to obey these directions is a contempt of court. 

The plaintiff is represented by Ray Boland SC, John Gordon SC and Siún Leonowicz BL.

McGregor is represented by Remy Farrell SC.