After Conor McGregor withdraws ‘new evidence' in rape case, we examine neighbour's claims
This is the almost 24-metre distance over which Conor McGregor's 'witnesses' claimed they saw Nikita Hand being attacked through their upstairs window.
Our pictures show the two houses facing each other on the opposite sides of a quiet cul-de-sac in Drimnagh in south Dublin.
Samantha O'Reilly came forward to claim that she clearly viewed a 'heated row' between Ms Hand and her then partner when she looked out her bedroom window late on 'Sunday night/early on the Monday morning' in December 2018.
According to Google Earth, the distance between the two upstairs windows of the homes is 23.5 metres (77 ft) – with the windows also providing a barrier to vision.
Samantha O'Reilly
Neither Ms Hand, her former partner or McGregor's witnesses, Samantha O'Reilly and Steven Cummins, still live on the road in Drimnagh and none of the current residents have any ties to the case.
O'Reilly made the 'bombshell' statement to McGregor's legal team, claiming she witnessed an assault through two windows across the road at a time when the natural light was likely to be severely diminished.
The claim was slammed as 'lies' by Ms Hand.
However, when it came to test the evidence during Conor McGregor's appeal against his civil rape trial verdict this week, O'Reilly and her partner Steven Cummins' statements were formally withdrawn.
The statements have now been referred to the DPP by the judges for perjury.
In a sworn affidavit, O'Reilly claimed she was in the back bedroom of this home when she was woken by a fight between Nikita Hand and her then-partner in their home all the way across the street in the hours after she was allegedly sexually assaulted by Conor McGregor in a Dublin hotel in December 2018.
Ms Hand (35) successfully sued McGregor in a civil court over an incident in which he was alleged to have 'brutally raped and battered' her in a penthouse at the Beacon Hotel in south Dublin in December 2018.
McGregor launched an appeal against the civil court verdict and in May his legal team said they wanted to introduce new evidence from Ms Hand's former neighbours Samantha O'Reilly and her partner Steven Cummins.
The couple said they only came forward six years later after seeing television reports about the trial.
Ms Hand described the claims as 'lies' and McGregor's legal team dramatically withdrew those claims from the appeal this week with Ms Hand's legal team suggesting it was now being 'conceded' the claims were lies.
Despite their bedroom being in the rear of their own home, O'Reilly claimed she awoke after hearing the row.
Ms Hand said it was not conceivable that Ms O'Reilly would have been awoken after hearing the row from the back bedroom.
Ms O'Reilly claimed after waking up she witnessed a physical row between Ms Hand and her then partner Stephen Redmond at their south Dublin home.
O'Reilly's affidavit inferred Mr Redmond assaulted Ms Hand in an upstairs bedroom by punching her and kicking her after pushing her to the floor.
In her affidavit, despite her own bedroom being located at the back of her home, O'Reilly claimed she was woken by sounds of 'screaming and shouting' from Ms Hand's house.
Nikita Hand
'They were both shouting at each other,' she said. 'Nikita was saying words to Ste [Stephen] to the effect that 'it was always about you'. They were running in and out of the bedrooms. Nikita was pushing Ste.'
She said the couple eventually returned to the 'first bedroom' and then claims she saw Mr Redmond push Ms Hand so that she fell down.
'I could see Ste's arms moving up and down as if he was hitting Nikita. I also saw him moving his hips in a way that indicated to me that he was kicking her.
'As Nikita was on the ground I did not see any blows land on her. She got up and started pushing her hair out of her face... She then ran out of the room... I was extremely upset at this.'
Conor McGregor
Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 6th
Ms O'Reilly said by this point both her daughter and her partner Steven Cummins were awake. Her daughter was 'screaming at me' to help Ms Hand.
She said her partner insisted they should not get involved in another person's domestic row. Ms O'Reilly said she then heard Mr Redmond's car taking off fast out of the cul-de-sac.
Ms O'Reilly said she subsequently went across the road and saw Ms Hand at her front door where she was screaming.
She said Ms Hand later said she was 'grand' and went inside.
In a responding affidavit, Ms Hand said she had 'a verbal argument' but said Mr Redmond did not assault her that night or ever during their relationship.
Conor McGregor
She also said that she never went upstairs during the row as her daughter was sleeping upstairs and only went upstairs to check on her daughter after Mr Redmond left the house.
Ms Hand also said it was inconceivable that the argument could have been heard from a house across the road, that she didn't come out of her home screaming and did not speak to Ms O'Reilly.
One of the key points of her affidavit was that Ms O'Reilly and Cummins' bedroom was at the back of their house looking into the back garden while the front windows upstairs were their children's bedrooms.
Ms Hand said she and Mr Redmond never went upstairs during the row as her daughter was sleeping upstairs.
She said she only went upstairs to check on her daughter after Mr Redmond left the house.
Ms Hand insisted it was not conceivable the argument could have been heard from a house across the road, that she did not come out of her home screaming, and had no conversation with Ms O'Reilly.
A key point in her affidavit related to the layout of Ms O'Reilly and Mr Cummins' house.
Ms Hand said their bedroom was upstairs at the back of the house looking onto the back yard, while the windows upstairs at the front were children's bedrooms.
Cummins claimed he was woken that night by screams from his daughter and it was obvious from 'screams and shouts' that there was a 'row' in Ms Hand's house. He did not claim to see any physical violence.
On Wednesday, Ms Hand's lawyer John Gordon SC said she had been disadvantaged by 'highly disparaging and unfair criticisms' in 'widely published' claims from the affidavit.
Mr Gordon said the application to introduce the witnesses was not just to produce further evidence, but also to 'undermine my client's reputation', including by stating she had lied.
Mark Mulholland, counsel for McGregor, had raised concerns that the request was an attempt to get the matter on the record for the media, adding that this would be 'wholly inappropriate'.
Mr Gordon said Ms Hand was 'put through the wringer yet again' and expressed a desire to cross-examine Mr Cummins and Ms O'Reilly.
He asked the Court of Appeal to use its powers to refer matters to the DPP, citing concerns around perjury.
The three judges of the court, Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, Mr Justice Brian O'Moore and Mr Justice Patrick MacGrath, said they would do so.
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