Former MMA fighter Conor McGregor loses his appeal against a civil rape case
The plaintiff, Nikita Hand, alleged that McGregor — one of the world's highest-paid athletes — sexually assaulted her in a Dublin hotel room on December 9, 2018.
A jury last year ordered McGregor to pay her nearly 250,000 euros ($443,357) in damages.
McGregor, 36, denied the allegation and said he had "fully consensual sex" with Ms Hand.
The ex-Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) star also denied causing bruising to the plaintiff.
Ms Hand last year said that she and a friend made contact with McGregor, who she knew, after a work Christmas party.
She said they were driven by McGregor to a party in a penthouse room of a south Dublin hotel where drugs and alcohol were consumed.
The verdict against McGregor was reached at the conclusion of a two-week civil trial in Ireland's high court, by a jury of eight women and four men.
They handed down their decision after just over six hours of deliberations.
Speaking outside the court in November last year after the initial verdict was handed down, Ms Hand said she was overwhelmed by the support she had received and felt vindicated.
The now-retired MMA star earnt $180 million in 2021, making him the world's highest paid athlete in 2021, according to Forbes.
In March this year, McGregor was invited to the White House by United States President Donald Trump on St Patrick's Day, where the former UFC champion made various anti-immigration comments in relation to Ireland.
"It's about time that America is made aware of what's going on in Ireland. What is going on in Ireland is a travesty," McGregor said, ahead of an Oval Office meeting with the US president.
Reuters
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News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Don't care': Cold Oscar Piastri radio message causes stir
Oscar Piastri's cold radio message during the rollercoaster Hungarian Grand Prix has raised eyebrows. The Aussie was the victim of his McLaren team's strategy gamble to put teammate Lando Norris on an ambitious one-stop strategy after he dropped positions on the opening lap. Piastri was being frustrated while stuck behind Ferrari pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, but appeared to be on his way toward another victory before it emerged that Norris was on the quicker strategy and assumed the race lead when Piastri was forced to pit for a second time. Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship™ LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Norris was forced to hold on in the final laps as the 24-year-old Melburnian nibbled at his rear wing, but on the Hungaroring track, a circuit notoriously difficult to overtake on, the British driver held on for victory. Piastri crossed the line just 0.7 seconds behind his teammate, but all that matters is that Norris has reduced Piastri's championship lead back to nine points. McLaren has done an incredible job in keeping the relationship between Piastri and Norris amicable as they fight for the world championship — but Piastri's radio message to his team during the race shows it is just a matter of time before the gloves come off. As Piastri was preparing for his final stop, he was asked by race engineer Tom Stallard if his intent was to extinguish any glimmer of hope Leclerc had of winning the race — or simply beating his teammate. As recorded by the @radiomessages profile on X, Piastri was asked: 'Leclerc is going to be four or five seconds ahead of our pit window. We suggest to box this lap'. Piastri's blunt response was telling: 'I don't really care about Leclerc. I just want the best chance to try and beat Lando. 'That's the most important thing at the moment.' It wasn't the only radio exchange that showed Piastri was not altogether happy with his team after the race. There was only awkward silence from Piastri after Stallard congratulated him on his drive. 'Well done mate. That was really close, Oscar. Really close. Great racing. Good job,' Stallard said. 'Good stuff. Great racing. We're going to shut down. Still leading both championships. Good first half of the season.' It appears Piastri gave no immediate response. The frosty dynamic has added another layer to Piastri's reputation as a mild-mannered assassin with some fans on X describing him as a 'cyborg' or 'terminator'. Piastri could sense right from the moment he went into the pits the first time that his team may have made a mistake. 'I don't know if trying to undercut Leclerc was the right call in the end but we can go through that after,' Piastri said. F1 guru Martin Brundle said after the race he understood why Piastri would have been frustrated by his team's tactical decisions. 'Oscar will be seething with that,' Brundle said. Remember the two radio calls. Pit to undercut Leclerc. They were busy strategising to beat Leclerc. Norris didn't have that problem as he was out of the picture and came in 13 laps later and changed strategy. 'The great irony is by not being in that fight with the Ferrari at the front they had more freedom and took it. 'But he still had to deliver that pace for that amount of time on those tyres. 'Oscar will be asking why didn't we do that. Why have we two stopped and been beaten by our teammate who one-stopped?' Despite this, Piastri congratulated his teammate after the race, recognising Norris' good defensive driving in the final laps. Piastri conceded his team was making a gamble either way. 'I pushed as hard as I could. I saw Lando going for a one (stop) so I knew I was going to have to overtake on track, which is easier said then done around here,' he said. 'I tried a few things, but it was a gamble either way and, unfortunately, we were just on the other side of it.' Piastri questioned his team's decision to try to 'undercut' pole sitter and early leader Charles Leclerc of Ferrari in the early stages of the race. 'I'm not sure that was the right call in the end,' he said on radio. It wasn't. McLaren boss Zak Brown said everyone in the team will 'sleep well tonight'. Piastri may not feel the same way. The outcome was McLaren's fourth consecutive 1-2 in succession and Norris's fifth win this year and ninth of his career.
News.com.au
3 hours ago
- News.com.au
Italy's fast fashion hub becomes Chinese mafia battlefield
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The Chinese mafia also "promotes the illegal immigration of workers of various nationalities" for Prato, Tescaroli told AFP. The veteran anti-mafia prosecutor said the "phenomenon has been underestimated", allowing the mafia to expand its reach. With one of Europe's largest Chinese communities, the city of nearly 200,000 people has seen Chinese business owners and factory workers beaten or threatened in recent months, with cars and warehouses burned. The ex-head of Prato's police investigative unit, Francesco Nannucci, said the Chinese mafia run betting dens, prostitution and drugs -- and provide their Italian counterparts with under-the-radar money transfers. For mafia leaders, "to be able to command in Prato means being able to lead in much of Europe," Nannucci told AFP. - 'Well-oiled system' - Chinese groups in the district thrive on the so-called "Prato system", long rife with corruption and irregularities, particularly in the fast-fashion sector, such as labour and safety violations plus tax and customs fraud. Prato's 5,000-odd apparel and knitwear businesses, mostly small, Chinese-run subcontractors, churn out low-priced items that end up in shops across Europe. They pop up quickly and shut down just as fast, playing a cat-and-mouse game with authorities to avoid taxes or fines. Fabric is smuggled from China, evading customs duties and taxes, while profits are returned to China via illegal money transfers. To stay competitive, the sector relies on cheap, around-the-clock labour, mostly from China and Pakistan, which Tescaroli told a Senate committee in January was "essential for its proper functioning". "It's not just one or two bad apples, but a well-oiled system they use, and do very well -- closing, reopening, not paying taxes," said Riccardo Tamborrino, a Sudd Cobas union organiser leading strikes on behalf of immigrants. Investigators say the immigrants work seven days a week, 13 hours a day for about three euros ($3.40) an hour. Tamborrino said Prato's apparel industry was "free from laws, from contracts". "It's no secret," he said. "All this is well known." - 'Miss Fashion' - Trucks lumber day and night through the streets of Prato's industrial zone, an endless sprawl of asphalt lined with warehouses and apparel showrooms with names like "Miss Fashion" and "Ohlala Pronto Moda". Open metal doors reveal loaded garment racks, rolls of fabric and stacks of boxes awaiting shipment -- the final step controlled by Zhang Naizhong, whom prosecutors dub the "boss of bosses" within Italy's Chinese mafia. 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Chinese garment workers, who are in the majority in Prato and often brought to Italy by the mafia, never picket, union activists say -- they are too frightened to protest. - Trading favours - Changes in apparel manufacturing, globalisation and migration have all contributed to the so-called "Prato system". So has corruption. In May 2024, the second-in-command within Prato's Carabinieri police was accused of giving Italian and Chinese entrepreneurs -- among them a chamber of commerce businessman -- access to the police database for information, including on workers. Police complaints from attacked workers "ended up in a drawer, never reaching the court", Sudd Cobas organiser Francesca Ciuffi told AFP. Prato's mayor resigned in June in a corruption investigation, accused of trading favours with the businessman for votes. In recent months, the union has secured regular contracts under national law for workers at over 70 companies. That will not help those caught in Prato's mafia war, however, where "bombs have exploded and warehouses have been burned down", said Ciuffi. "People who wake up in the morning, quietly going to work, risk getting seriously injured, if not worse, because of a war that doesn't concern them."
News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Lando Norris goes public with girlfriend Margarida Corceiro at Hungarian GP
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