Conor McGregor Loses Appeal in Civil Case Over Sexual Assault Allegations

Conor McGregor has lost his civil appeal against a jury’s decision that found he sexually assaulted a woman in a Dublin hotel in 2018.

In a ruling delivered by the Court of Appeal in Dublin, three senior judges upheld the original decision requiring McGregor to pay £206,000 in damages, plus legal costs, to Nikita Hand, who accused the former UFC champion of rape.

The appeal, which challenged several aspects of the trial process, was dismissed in full.

McGregor, who was absent from court during the judgment, had argued through his legal team that the jury should not have been shown his police interview transcripts, in which he responded “no comment” approximately 100 times. His lawyers claimed this risked prejudicing the jury.

They also objected to the phrasing of a question presented to jurors during deliberations. The issue paper asked whether McGregor had assaulted Ms Hand, but his legal team argued it should have specified “sexual assault.”

The court rejected both claims. The judges said McGregor’s team had failed to demonstrate that inclusion of the interview responses created an unfair trial. On the issue paper, the judges stated it was “simply unreal” to suggest the jury could have misunderstood the nature of the question.

A unanimous ruling concluded there were no grounds to overturn the original verdict.

James Lawrence, a friend of McGregor who was also named in the lawsuit, lost his appeal against paying legal costs. Although the jury did not find him liable for assault, the court upheld the decision that he should contribute to expenses related to the case.

Both men had denied wrongdoing, claiming the encounter with Ms Hand was consensual.

Survivor’s Response

Speaking after the ruling, Ms Hand said the legal process had taken a toll on her emotionally.

“This appeal retraumatised me repeatedly. What happened to me has left lasting effects,” she told reporters outside the court.

She added a message for other survivors: “You deserve to be heard, and you deserve justice. I can now begin to move forward and try to heal.”

Details Behind the Appeal

McGregor’s appeal focused on multiple elements from the original civil trial in Dublin’s High Court.

Central to the challenge was the language used in the jury’s issue paper. His legal team argued that using the term “assault” without the qualifier “sexual” could lead to ambiguity. However, Ms Hand’s barrister countered that the term “assault” in this context referred to rape, and said the wording was agreed upon in advance.

Another point of contention involved McGregor’s conduct during interviews with gardaí (Irish police). His legal team maintained that the repeated “no comment” responses, which were shared with the jury, allowed them to draw negative conclusions, despite his right to silence.

Ms Hand’s legal team pointed out that McGregor’s lawyers did not ask for the jury to be dismissed over this issue, which would be expected if it were such a significant concern.

New Evidence Withdrawn

At the start of the appeal process, the court was informed that McGregor had dropped a request to submit new evidence from two witnesses, Samantha O’Reilly and Steven Cummins, former neighbours of Ms Hand. They claimed to have witnessed an argument between Ms Hand and her ex-partner in December 2018.

McGregor’s team had hoped this testimony might support an alternative explanation for the bruising on Ms Hand’s body. However, Ms Hand rejected the claims as false, and the judges described the withdrawal of this aspect of the appeal as “somewhat mysterious.”

Costs related to this portion of the proceedings were awarded to Ms Hand.