‘I was raped': Woman denies she had consensual sex with Conor McGregor as she is cross-examined

A WOMAN WHO alleges that Mixed Martial Arts fighter Conor McGregor sexually assaulted her in a Dublin hotel has rejected a suggestion by his senior counsel that she had consensual sex with him twice.

Nikita Hand (Ní Laimhín) alleges that McGregor (36) “sexually assaulted her, and in effect, raped her” in a hotel penthouse in Dublin on 9 December 2018, and that a second defendant, James Lawrence, of Rafter’s Road, Drimnagh, “did likewise”, Mr Justice Alexander Owens told the jury on Tuesday.

The allegations in the action are fully denied.

The action was brought in 2021 against McGregor. The civil trial is expected to last two weeks.

On the third day of the trial, Remy Farrell SC, for McGregor, cross examined Hand about the alleged sexual assault.

Referring to evidence she previously gave in court where she said that she bit McGregor and he did not like it, Farrell read from Ms Hand’s statement of claim, which stated that when she bit McGregor, “he advised her that he enjoyed her actions”.

Ms Hand said that McGregor liked her struggling and trying to get away from him “but when I bit him really hard, he did not like that.”

When asked if she said anything to McGregor before the alleged assault, Ms Hand said she tried to talk him out of it and told him that she knew his partner.

“I was on my period, I had a tampon in. I wasn’t looking for sex,” she told the court.

When asked if she heard anything from the other room, she said no.

When asked if she remembered where she bit McGregor, she said: “I can’t remember where I bit him. I just know I bit him. I can’t remember what part of his body I got.”

Farrell asked Ms Hand if she remembered McGregor or Lawrence flirting with her or her friend in the sitting room of the penthouse. She said no.

Farrell put it to Ms Hand that when she, McGregor, Lawrence and her friend were in the sitting room of the penthouse, that McGregor went to the bedroom and that she followed him in, and that she approached McGregor when he was using the toilet in the ensuite bathroom.

He put it to her that she and McGregor started kissing and at that stage his belt and jeans were open because he had been using the toilet. He put it to her that you “largely took your own clothes off” and that they were both “sexually excited”.

Ms Hand said she did not agree with that.

Farrell suggested to her that at that point, she started to give McGregor oral sex. Ms Hand said no.

He suggested to her that they then went and had sex on the bed. Ms Hand said no.

Farrell said that during this, her friend and Lawrence were in the sitting room of the penthouse. Ms Hand said they were not in the bedroom.

Farrell put it to her that at some point during the afternoon, her friend and Lawrence had sex. Ms Hand said she did not remember that.

Farrell suggested to her that the noise of this was quite obvious and that they were having sex at a similar time that she was having sex with McGregor. Ms Hand said she does not remember anyone having sex.

Farrell asked Ms Hand if she remembered going out of the bedroom into the sitting room of the penthouse when her friend and Lawrence were having sex. Ms Hand said she did not remember that.

Farrell suggested to her that she went into the sitting room and was “slagging” her friend and Lawrence and made a lewd remark about oral sex. “That’s disgusting. I don’t remember that,” Ms Hand said.

Farrell suggested that while McGregor was asleep, Ms Hand and Lawrence lifted both his legs up. “No it didn’t happen. None of this, what he’s saying, happened,” Ms Hand told the court.

Farrell suggested that McGregor told her to get lost. “No,” Ms Hand said.

“And that this was, maybe towards the end of the period?” Farrell said.

“None of this is true,” Ms Hand said.

Farrell put it to Ms Hand that she had sex with McGregor a second time and that he did not ejaculate. “None of this is true,” Ms Hand said.

“I’m putting it to you that you had sex with Mr McGregor in various different positions,” Farrell said.

“It didn’t happen,” Ms Hand said.

“And that your legs were on his shoulders at some point?” Farrell said.

“I was raped, I’m not going to agree with any of what you’re saying,” Ms Hand said.

Farrell suggested that there were various points where McGregor had his hands on the back of her thighs and on her buttocks. “I don’t have a comment because this is like a made up story,” Ms Hand said.

Farrell put it to Ms Hand that she was “an enthusiastic participant” and that she made noises and said things to that effect.

Later, Farrell referred to Ms Hand’s evidence to the jury that when she got home, she told her partner that she had been raped but that she did not tell him who had raped her.

Recording

A lengthy recording that was made by Ms Hand’s partner at the time when she returned home on the night of 9 December was played in court. Ms Hand was not aware that she was being recorded and only found out about it later, the court heard.

In the recording, Ms Hand can be heard crying and telling her former partner that she “tried to fight” and that she “bit him”.

She repeatedly said “I’m sorry” to her former partner, and told him numerous times that she could not tell him the identity of the person who had raped her after he repeatedly asked her.

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She can be heard twice saying “He told me he’d kill me”.

At one point, she can be heard telling her former partner “I had my period and I had a tampon up me and I don’t even know where it’s gone now.”

“I’m sorry, it’s not my fault. It’s not my fault,” she could be heard repeating.

Her former partner can be heard telling her he doesn’t “give a f*** who warned you or threatened you” and telling her that he just wants to know where she was. She tells him that she was in the Morgan Hotel with the women she went to her work Christmas party with.

When her former partner asks if they are still in town, Ms Hand can be heard telling him that they had gone home.

When her former partner continued to ask who the alleged attacker was, she can be heard asking him to “please let me get through tonight”.

When her former partner tells her that he is going to call Gardaí, she can be heard saying “Please don’t do that to me”.
She can be heard on the recording asking her former partner to look at her knuckles and saying they were bruised “from fighting back”.

She can also be heard saying “He was choking me and I couldn’t breathe” and saying “Three times he done it to me. I thought I was dead, I thought I was gone.”

Her former partner continues to inquire about what happened and who was involved, and Ms Hand can be heard arguing with him and telling him that all he cared about “is reassuring yourself”.

“That’s all you care about. How do you think my mind feels right now? I’m after being sexually abused,” she can be heard saying.

She can also be heard saying “Why me? Why me? Why me?”.

When her former partner says he is “doing something about this”, referring to what allegedly happened to her, Ms Hand can be heard telling him: “You’re not doing anything. The only thing you should be doing is supporting me right now and you haven’t done any of that, you haven’t even put your arms around me. I’m not a slut and you think I am. I’m not like that.”

She can be heard telling him that she can’t tell him the identity of the man who allegedly
assaulted her because he “would tell the nation”.

She can be heard asking him to “let me get through the hospital tomorrow” and they can talk about it.

She can also be heard asking if their relationship is going to be affected by it, and repeating that she is sorry and “I done nothing wrong”. Her former partner can be heard telling her to stop saying sorry.

CCTV

Earlier this morning, Ms Hand denied that CCTV footage from the Beacon Hotel “flatly contradicts” her version of events.

Farrell put it to Ms Hand that her friend was in the other room when she claims she was raped on 9 December. He asked if she said or did anything to “tip off” her friend that something had happened to her. Ms Hand said she did not because she didn’t remember at that point.

Farrell put it to her that she had woken up beside a man who was not her partner in a hotel bed after a night out, and that it appeared from the account she had given to the court yesterday that at that stage that she had no memory of being raped. Repeating evidence that she had given earlier in the trial she said she had woken “in a panic” and had asked McGregor the time.

Farrell asked if her primary concern when she woke up was the time of day. Ms Hand said it was “because I had fallen asleep. When I go to a party, it’s strange for me to fall asleep”.

Farrell put it to Ms Hand that the jury had seen CCTV footage of her going down in the lift after the alleged assault at around 6.15pm and being “very affectionate” towards McGregor.

Ms Hand said she could not remember that.

Farrell asked if she could remember going down in the lift and going back up to the penthouse with James Lawrence. She said she did not remember what they were doing or saying in the lift.

She said of the CCTV footage: “It’s not me, it’s not my character, I see a very vulnerable woman, a very drunk woman, I should’ve been looked after in that state. I should’ve been brought home.”

Farrell put it to Ms Hand that she appeared to kiss McGregor’s arm in the CCTV footage. Ms Hand said: “I don’t remember that. I don’t remember what I’m doing at that stage.”

Farrell asked if there was any reason for her friend to notice anything untoward. Ms Hand said she could not speak for her friend.

Farrell put it to her that the last she saw of her friend on the evening of 9 December was her getting into a car “with a man who violently raped you”. Ms Hand said yes.

Asked if she tried to speak to her friend at any stage, Ms Hand said she told her in a text message that she had been raped when she was in the Rotunda Hospital’s Sexual Assault Treatment Unit.

Farrell asked Ms Hand if she had asked her friend to delete the text messages between them. Ms Hand said she probably did “because I told other people to because I was afraid for my life”.

Farrell asked if she also deleted text messages to her friend that asked her to delete the texts.

“I deleted a lot of text messages and I told other people to as well because I didn’t want to press charges and I was afraid,” Ms Hand said.

She agreed with Farrell that she had told gardaí that her friend “doesn’t want to say anything because Conor dropped her home and she is scared because she knows he knows where she lives and I don’t want to force her”.

Farrell asked if she was reluctant for gardaí to speak to her friend.

Ms Hand said: “No, I didn’t mind. I was worried about her because I knew she was scared, so I didn’t want to push her into a decision that would make her frightened in any way because it was about me.”

Farrell put it to Ms Hand that in her evidence, she said she had told the manager of her salon that she had been sexually assaulted. He asked if she was concerned that she had told her something different. Ms Hand said no. “I know I told her I was raped and I had a lot of bruises on my body. I don’t know what type of detail I told her.”

Farrell asked if she remembered telling her that she woke up with two bodyguards coming into the room, or if she remembered telling her that she jumped up and ran out because she thought she were going to be gang raped. Ms Hand said she did not remember telling her this.

Farrell asked if she told the manager of her salon to delete things. Ms Hand accepted that she did.

She also accepted that she deleted her Instagram account after the alleged assault. When asked why, she said: “I didn’t want to be on any more social media because everyone was talking about it and it was in the papers.”

She told gardaí she “deleted Conor from my Instagram, I blocked him”.

Ms Hand said no one had told her to delete her account and that “I deleted it off my own back”. But she later agreed with Farrell that she had previously told gardaí that she got a phone call from a garda at 2am telling her to deactivate her Instagram account as people were looking to take photos from it.

She said: “I didn’t want to have to deal with people trying to take my own personal photographs from my page and sending them to group chats and talking about me.”

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Farrell said that of the CCTV that they had seen, a significant part showed her with her mobile phone. He said that despite her suggestion that she was vulnerable, she was clearly able to operate a mobile phone.

Ms Hand said she did not remember any of what was shown in the CCTV.

Farrell said she had texted her partner’s sister and her then-partner, and had made a phone call to McGregor at 6.27pm on the evening of the 9 December.

Ms Hand said she did not remember attempting to call McGregor.

Farrell asked if she was “looking to have a chat” with McGregor. Ms Hand said: “I don’t know why I rang him. There’s a lot of hanging around in the CCTV footage. I know James took my phone on the CCTV footage. I don’t remember any of that.”

She said the CCTV footage “is me but it’s not my character and I don’t remember it and I don’t want to have to look at it again, it’s very disturbing for me.”

Farrell put it to Ms Hand that the reason why it is disturbing for her was that everything in that footage “flatly contradicts the story you’ve told”.

“That CCTV footage does not take away from what happened to me,” Ms Hand said.

“I was brutally raped and battered and that CCTV footage does not take away from what happened to me. I know what happened to me.”

Ms Hand became distressed and asked if she could have a break and the court was adjourned for ten minutes.

When the hearing resumed, Farrell put it to Ms Hand that the reason she was distressed “was because I was asking you questions about the CCTV footage and you found it very hard to look at that footage”.

He said she told the jury yesterday that when she went out, she was not looking for sexual activity or romantic entanglement. “No I wasn’t,” Ms Hand said.

Farrell said the CCTV “appears to suggest that you were interested in romantic entanglement”. Ms Hand said she can’t remember any of it.

“As far as you’re telling the jury that you’d no interest in romantic entanglement, that seems to be contradicted by the CCTV?” Farrell said.

“I can’t remember the CCTV,” Ms Hand said.

Farrell said that from the CCTV, it seemed that Hand had “romantic desirements” towards James Lawrence. “Yeah I did see that,” Hand said.

“There’s a point where you appear to be kissing him?” Farrell said.

“Yeah it looked that way,” Hand said.

Farrell put it to her that she was wrong when she said she was not looking for sexual activity or romantic entanglement. “I don’t think I’m wrong, I just don’t remember any of it,” Ms Hand said.

Farrell asked her why she did not leave the hotel when McGregor left. Ms Hand said she didn’t know. “I have no idea why I stayed,” she said.

Farrell asked Ms Hand if she has a history of blackouts. She said no. He said she was “not necessarily a stranger to hitting it hard on a night out”.

“I used to. I was in my 20s, I was living my life, enjoying myself,” Ms Hand said.

Farrell put it to her that she had told the jury she could remember certain things and that certain things “are just gone out of” her brain.

He put it to her that those things were “everything from the point that McGregor leaves to when you’re back in the room sometime later”.

“There’s a lot of things I don’t remember from that weekend,” Ms Hand said.

Earlier, she agreed with Farrell that she had been wrong when she told gardaí she was in the Morgan Hotel in Temple Bar in Dublin city centre, rather than the Beacon Hotel in Sandyford.

Referring to her evidence, Farrell told Hand that she had indicated in her previous evidence that she thought it was the Morgan Hotel because of the style of bath in the penthouse and the interior of the hotel. Ms Hand said this was correct.

Farrell said that when the car entered the car park of the hotel, it would appear from the CCTV footage that there is a gap of around 15-16 minutes between the car coming in and the four of them going to the door to the elevator.

Ms Hand said she does not recall. When asked if she disagrees with that, she said she does not disagree, she just doesn’t remember.

Farrell asked if she was curious about where they were during those minutes before going up to the penthouse. Ms Hand said at the time she wasn’t, that they were in the car, having a drink and a laugh and that she did not ask where they were going.

Referring to a photograph of the door to the elevator, Farrell put it to Ms Hand that there are letters above the door that read Beacon Hotel. He asked Ms Hand if she saw those letters before going through the door on the night in question. Hand said she did not, and pointed out that the letters are above the door.

“I’m drunk, you can see from the CCTV that I’m vulnerable.”

She said she does not remember being in the car park. “I don’t think everyone remembers absolutely everything when they’re drunk.”

Farrell asked Ms Hand if she was aware that there was CCTV footage from the hotel when she spoke to Gardaí in January 2019. Ms Hand said she was not aware.

He referred to her previous evidence, where she said that she only became aware that she had been in the Beacon Hotel when Gardaí informed her. When asked when Gardaí informed her of this, she said she could not remember if it was before her initial interview or afterwards. “I’m sure they told me, I can’t remember when they told me. It’s six years later,” she said.

Farrell asked Ms Hand if it had ever occurred to her that if Gardaí had not figured out it was the Beacon Hotel, that there would be no CCTV available. Ms Hand said it had never occurred to her.

The trial continues this afternoon before Mr Justice Alexander Owens and a jury of eight women and four men.

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