DISGRACED Conor McGregor today LOST his appeal over his civil rape case after he attacked a woman in a hotel.
The Irish mixed martial arts fighter, 36, was accused of “brutally raping and battering” Nikita Hand at a hotel in Dublin in December 2018.
Collins PhotosNikita Hand, who is also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, outside the Court of Appeal this afternoon[/caption]
Conor McGregor outside the High Court in DublinBrian Lawless/PA Wire
McGregor was not present for proceedings at the Court of Appeal in Dublin this afternoon but Ms Hand was.
The 37-year-old fighter had intended to introduce fresh evidence into his appeal.
He had provided affidavits by Samantha O’Reilly and her partner Steven Cummins, former neighbours of Ms Hand when she lived in Drimnagh, to the Court of Appeal.
Samantha O’Reilly said she had witnessed a physical row between Ms Hand and her then-partner at about the same time of the incident at the Beacon hotel.
Ms Hand sued the fighter after she claimed he “brutally raped and battered” her in the penthouse of the Beacon Hotel in Sandyford, Dublin, in December, 2018.
During a three-week case at the High Court last November, the fighter told the court the pair had “consensual” sex.
A jury of eight women and four men found him civilly liable for assault and Ms Hand was awarded €248,603.60 in damages.
Ms Hand denied any altercation with her former partner and the court heard she characterised the claims from Ms O’Reilly and Ms O’Reilly’s partner Steven Cummins as “lies”.
The appeal continued on other grounds.
Today, Judge Brian O’Moore said there was “no fresh argument made” as the evidence had been withdrawn.
The court based its ruling on McGregor’s remaining grounds of appeal.
This was that his garda interviews should not have been admitted into evidence and that the jury was asked to deliberate on an “assault” rather than “sexual assault”.
Today the Court of Appeal rejected all grounds of appeal advanced by McGregor and dismissed it in its entirety.
Ms Hand speaking to the media outside the High Court in Dublin after the jury returned with their verdicts in the civil trial against McGregorBrian Lawless/PA Wire
McGregor pictured after the court announced the jury’s decision in the civil action caseDavid Fitzgerald/Sportsfile Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]