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Conor McGregor sues Sky News for alleged defamation

Summary

Conor McGregor has been granted permission to serve legal papers on Sky News for alleged defamation following his civil trial last year, where he was found liable for the rape of Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel. At the High Court, Paul O'Higgins SC, representing McGregor, successfully applied to Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty to serve plenary summons papers on Sky News UK, Sky News Ltd, and Sky News Ireland. The application was made due to the one-year time limit for defamation cases, which is set to expire on November 22, 2025. O'Higgins stated that a Sky News reporter allegedly called McGregor a rapist during a media scrum outside the Four Courts in Dublin. McGregor was ordered to pay nearly €1.5M in legal costs after the jury awarded Hand almost €250K in damages. McGregor denied the assault and lost his appeal, with new witness evidence withdrawn on the first day of the appeal. He is now awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court on whether to hear his appeal.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Conor McGregor sues Sky News for alleged defamation. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• November 22 Other
• November 22, 2024 Incident
• Saturday, November 22, 2025 Incident
• 2025-11-20 Publication

Why: Mr O'Higgins said that he was before the court today because the time limit for bringing a defamation case is one year which, he said, would expire this Saturday, November 22, 2025. CNI source report

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Trial Violent Crime

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Read the original CNI report