02-05-2025
McGregor seeks to introduce evidence from new witness in appeal of civil sexual assault finding
LAWYERS FOR CONOR McGregor have said they have new evidence from a woman who claims to have witnessed Nikita Hand being punched and possibly kicked by her then-partner hours after she returned home from the hotel where a civil jury found she was raped by the MMA fighter.
At the Court of Appeal today, Remy Farrell SC, for McGregor, said a couple have come forward with fresh evidence in the case, with the female claiming she saw Hand's then-partner assaulting Hand at her home.
The court heard the woman has sworn an affidavit that she saw her neighbour Hand being punched.
The woman has also sworn that while she did not actually see Hand being kicked on the ground, by the body movement of the man, she believes he kicked Hand after he punched her.
The court heard that the woman came forward during the case with her allegation after reading about the civil trial in the media.
Ray Boland SC, for Hand, said the woman had averred that she had also sent McGregor an Instagram message, but did not say when.
During the trial, Hand told the court that she sustained bruising on her legs, back, neck, hands. 'I was brutally raped and battered,' she told the jury.
Mr Justice Seamus Noonan said the 'extensive bruising' sustained by Hand, who was photographed by gardaí the day after she attended the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit in the Rotunda Hospital, was a 'very significant' part of the case.
He said the witness has claimed to have seen 'a heated row' involving Hand and her then-partner in the early hours of 10 December 2018 after she returned home from the hotel.
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Mr Justice Noonan said Hand, in an affidavit, has 'vigorously' disputed the claim made by the woman.
McGregor is seeking to introduce the alleged new evidence in his appeal against the civil jury's finding that he raped mother-of-one Hand in the Beacon Hotel in Sandyford in 2018.
The Court of Appeal heard that the application would focus on the credibility of the two new intended witnesses as to why they did not come forward during the trial.
Last November, Hand was awarded €248,000 in damages after a three-week civil trial where a jury concluded that she had been assaulted by McGregor.
Hand alleged that McGregor – once the highest-earning sportsperson in the world – 'brutally raped and battered' her on 9 December 2018 at the penthouse suite of the hotel.
McGregor, who had denied the allegations, subsequently appealed the jury's decision and is seeking a re-trial of the civil case against him, which was won by Hand in November last year.
At a directions hearing at the Court of Appeal today, Boland said there would have to be a cross examination of the two proposed new witnesses before their evidence could be allowed into the appeal.
Boland said that Hand had sworn an affidavit describing the claims by the woman as 'lies'.
Counsel said the application to introduce the new evidence would also require an affidavit from Hand's ex-partner.
Mr Justice Noonan said all deponents connected to the alleged new evidence can be cross examined.
Mr Justice Noonan then adjourned the application to introduce new evidence to 1 July for a three-day hearing on the matter.
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