Nikita Hand says Conor McGregor appeal left her ‘retraumatised’
Nikita Hand has said Conor McGregor’s appeal against her successful civil case against him had ‘retraumatised her’ as she urged survivors of sexual assault not to be ‘silenced.’
Ms Hand, a 35-year-old hair colourist from Drimnagh, had accused McGregor of raping her in the penthouse suite of a hotel in Dublin.
He denied the allegation and claimed the sex in December 2018, the day after the hair colourist’s Christmas party, was consensual.
Nikita Hand has said Conor McGregor’s appeal against her successful civil case against him had ‘retraumatised her’ as she urged survivors of sexual assault to not be ‘silenced.’ Pic: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie
Ms Hand went on to sue the former MMA fighter for damages, and in November 2024, a jury found that McGregor was civilly liable for the assault and awarded her almost €250,000 in damages.
The sportsman launched an appeal against the jury’s decision on a number of grounds; however, on Thursday, the Court of Appeal dismissed the legal challenge in its entirety after dismissing five grounds put forward.
Speaking as she left the Four Courts on Thursday, Ms Hand said she did not have a message for McGregor.
Ms Hand, a 35-year-old hair colourist from Drimnagh, had accused McGregor of raping her in the penthouse suite of a hotel in Dublin, when she was drunk and after taking cocaine. Pic: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie
‘I want to begin by thanking my legal team, the Rape Crisis Centre, and the three judges who delivered the decision today,’ she said in a statement outside court.
‘I’m also deeply grateful for everyone who supported me and those who believed in me and stood by my side throughout this case.
‘This appeal has retraumatised me over and over again, being forced to relive it, what happened has had a huge impact on me,’ she added.
He denied the allegation and claimed the sex in December 2018, the day after the hair colourist’s Christmas party, was consensual. Pic: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie
‘To every survivor out there, I know how hard it is, but please don’t be silenced. You deserve to be heard, you also deserve justice.
‘Today I can finally move on and try to heal.’
Among the grounds on which McGregor’s legal team issued the appeal was fresh evidence following an affidavit from a former neighbour of Ms Hand, Samantha O’Reilly, who said she had witnessed a physical row between Ms Hand and her then-partner at about the same time as the incident at the Beacon hotel.
Earlier this month, McGregor’s legal team dramatically withdrew that ground of appeal, saying it would no longer be relying on the material.
Mr Justice O’Moore said the manner in which the new evidence was abandoned ‘in the last moment… remain mysterious’.
McGregor’s appeal proceeded on other grounds, including in relation to his ‘no comment’ replies during garda interviews and whether the issue paper to the jury should have specified sexual assault and not ‘assault’.
Mr Justice O’Moore cited several examples of the jury being told to disregard the ‘no comment’ answers McGregor gave to gardai and not to draw any inference from that, and described the difference between the jury being told to disregard these, as directed by McGregor’s legal team, and telling them they are simply not evidence was ‘gossamer thin’.
He also said there was ‘no doubt’ that in the trial judge’s charge, the central allegation was that McGregor had raped Ms Hand and that this was the assault being referred to.
He said it was ‘unreal’ to suggest that the jury became confused when it was stated in such a clear way by the judge.
Neither McGregor nor Mr Lawrence were present in court on Thursday.
