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Woman breaks down as she tells court she thought she would die during alleged rape by Conor McGregor

Date
2024-11-06

Stage
Trial

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

In a High Court civil damages trial, Ms Nikita Hand testified that on the early hours of 9 December 2018 she was at the Beacon Hotel in Dublin with Conor McGregor and James Lawrence. She alleged that McGregor pinned her to a bed, choked her, and then raped her, describing the assault as lasting a long time and leaving her physically bruised and emotionally devastated. Hand said she had been drinking and had taken cocaine that night, and that she had tried to fight back but was unable to move. She reported that McGregor had told her he had felt the same way in the Octagon, which she found odd. After the incident, Hand made a statement to Gardaí in January 2019, but the Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to prosecute McGregor or Lawrence, citing no reasonable prospect of conviction. The case is before Mr Justice Alexander Owens and a jury of eight women and four men.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Woman breaks down as she tells court she thought she would die during alleged rape by Conor McGregor. Procedural stage: trial

When:

December 9, 2018 Incident
January 2019 Incident
Christmas Other
2024-11-06 Publication

Why: Ms Hand said she promised Mr McGregor that she would not tell anybody about what happened and then "let him do whatever he had to do" in order "to survive because I wasn't myself anymore". CNI source report