LAST UPDATE | 2 hrs ago
THE JURY IN the civil case against Mixed Martial Arts fighter Conor McGregor is continuing deliberations this afternoon.
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, which were brought against McGregor in 2021, are fully denied.
The evidence in the case concluded last week, with both sides finishing their closing arguments in court on Tuesday.
Mr Justice Owens concluded his charge to the jury of eight women and four men in court on Thursday afternoon.
This morning, when the jury returned, they passed a note to Mr Justice Owens requesting that a monitor and a HDMI cable be made available to them in order for them to see the CCTV footage more clearly. The judge said the court would endeavour to do that for them, “because sometimes the footage is better on bigger screens”.
He also told them that they were not permitted to break as usual at lunchtime and that they must stay together.
Shortly after 2pm, Mr Justice Owens told the court that the jury had indicated that they intended to continue their deliberations until 6pm.
McGregor was present in court with his partner Dee Devlin, his parents and his sister Aoife. Hand was in court with her partner.
In her evidence, Hand said that McGregor raped her in the penthouse of the Beacon Hotel on 9 December 2018.
The court heard evidence from a gynaecologist that Hand attended the Rotunda Hospital Sexual Assault Treatment Unit (SATU) on the morning of 10 December 2018, where he used a forceps to remove a tampon that was “wedged” at the top of Hand’s vagina.
The court heard that Hand made a statement to Gardaí about the alleged assault in January 2019, and that she did not make an allegation against Lawrence until after he presented to Gardaí and told them that he had had consensual sex with Hand twice in the Beacon Hotel after McGregor had left with Hand’s friend.
In his evidence, McGregor told the court that he and Hand had fully consensual sex on 9 December 2018. He told the court that she was not wearing a tampon when they were together and denied causing her bruising, telling the court that she was “full of lies”.
Lawrence told the court that he and Hand had sex twice in the penthouse bedroom. During his cross-examination, he rejected assertions that he was the “fall guy” for McGregor, saying “what man would put themselves up for the rape of a woman?”.
The jury began their deliberations at 3pm yesterday. They deliberated for less than an hour before retiring for the day.
Before asking the jury to begin their deliberations, Mr Justice Owens finished summarising the evidence yesterday.
He reminded them of certain points of law, such as the onus of proof being on the plaintiff and the standard of proof required in civil cases being on the balance of probabilities.
He also reminded them of the types of damages that they are entitled to award if they find in favour of Hand, including general damages for the alleged assault itself, special damages for medical expenses, damages for past and future loss of earnings and aggravated damages.
In relation to the verdict, he told them that it doesn’t follow that if they find against one defendant, that they must find against the other, or vice versa, adding that they must look at the two different cases.
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