Conor McGregor DELETES furious tirade against his rape victim Nikita Hand after she won civil sexual assault case against UFC star
Conor McGregor has deleted a furious tirade against his rape victim after she was awarded €250,000 from him in a civil sexual assault case.
The 36-year-old UFC star was found by a jury in a civil court to have sexually assaulted Nikita Hand, 35, at a hotel in south Dublin in December 2018.
A jury of eight women and four men returned their verdict on Friday afternoon, awarding Ms Hand the substantial damages for her claim after deliberating for six hours and 10 minutes.
Ms Hand told the Mail that she expected to win her civil action because she was telling the ‘truth from day one’.
Ms Hand did, however, lose her lawsuit against McGregor’s friend, James Lawrence, who she also accused of assaulting her on the same night out.
In a now-deleted post, McGregor quickly blasted the verdict and vowed to appeal, highlighting that he was awaiting to be ‘vindicated’ like his friend was.
Addressing the ‘heinous accusation’ he said: ‘Two men falsely accused. One vindicated, the other soon to be!
‘Congrats James Lawrence on absolute exoneration! Twice this heinous accusation was put to you and twice it was shown as FALSE! LIES!
Conor McGregor leaves he High Court with his girlfriend Dee Devlin. He was found by a jury in a civil court to have sexually assaulted a woman at a hotel in south Dublin in December 2018
McGregor took aim against the decision, while highlighting his friend’s ‘vindication’ to his 10 million followers on X. He has since deleted this post
Ms Hand joined family and supporters and said she felt vindicated by the outcome
‘It is absolutely disgraceful what they put you through here. Disgraceful!
‘I look forward to seeing you further vindicate yourself and lambast those responsible in court!
‘We know what happened that night! Everyone present knows, yet it was ignored.
‘Every single statement of persons present on the night was ignored. And they all disputed Nikita’s LIES!
‘However James they did believe you but just in certain parts for some strange reason. And they apparently did not believe Danielle Kealy at all. Laughable!’
McGregor then made reference to Ms Hand’s testimony in court, which had included allegations that she feared she was going to be ‘gang raped’.
During the trial, the prosecution lawyer asked: ‘You don’t remember that you told her you woke up and two body guards came into the room and you thought you were going to be gang raped?
‘And you ran off because you thought you were going to be raped by the security guard?’
McGregor has deleted his own tweets but he reposted this tweet of support
James Lawrence, co-defendant of Conor McGregor, was also accused of sexually assaulting Ms Hand but he was cleared
James Lawrence put out his own statement on Saturday night, which McGregor reposted to his X account, in which he revealed he intends to counter-sue Ms Hand for damages
Ms Hand said she did not remember because she was ‘all over the place’.
In his post, McGregor continued: ‘Also with the damages (60k and 188k, interesting choice of figures) it seems they didn’t believe Nikita much either.
‘How could they, her original story was she was gang raped by security and chased from the hotel on foot. Absolute nonsense.
‘How these lies were accepted, I will never know. A court of feeling and opinion, brainwashed in to people via the main stream media. Not of fact!
‘The reporting in court a laughing stock to everyone present. As clear as day bias.
‘This is not a court of hard evidence and truth. It is a kangaroo court of opinions and feelings. We are not done yet. Not by a long shot. No chance. On we fight!
‘Justice and truth will prevail! Appeal! Appeal! Appeal! As well as other. Congrats James! Onwards and upwards!’
In another post, he wrote: ‘Falsely accused a man of rape and lost.’
McGregor has since deleted the posts.
McGregor strongly disputes the account put forward by Ms Hand and has signalled his intention to appeal the civil court decision
He has, however, shared a photo on Instagram with his son Mack, who was born in December last year.
McGregor has four children with his fiancée, Dee Devlin, who he has been in a relationship with since 2008.
Although he has deleted his furious tirade, McCregor has reposted a tweet from Keith Woods which says: ‘Predictably, mouthpieces of Official Ireland are jumping on today’s finding against Conor McGregor to brand him as a rapist.
‘My personal opinion is there is very little that makes sense about this case, and I was shocked at the guilty verdict.’
He then proceeded to list 10 ‘key details’ about the case before adding: ‘It’s obvious from the reactions of regime mouthpieces to this that they are gleeful about an opportunity to destroy McGregor’s reputation and neutralise his voice in Irish politics, something they have been keen to do since he spoke out and expressed the voice of many voiceless Irish people last year.
‘Whatever your feelings on Conor, he doesn’t deserve the awful label of rapist on the basis of this.’
The jury in the High Court civil case found McGregor sexually assaulted Ms Hand in a Dublin hotel in 2018, after a three-week-long trial that garnered significant attention.
Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor and partner Dee Devlin leave the High Court
Conor McGregor and partner Dee Devlin and mother Margaret outside the High Court in Dublin, November 22, 2024
The jury awarded €60,000 in general damages, damages for loss of earnings of €135,026, agreed medical expenses of €4,557.64, and loss of future earnings of €50,000.
Special damages awarded in total were €188,603.60. No aggravated damages or exemplary damages were awarded.
The total damages awarded were €248,603.60.
The standard of proof in a criminal case is higher than in a civil case as jurors must be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt before they can convict. In a civil case, this standard is lower and a verdict can be reached on the balance of probabilities.
The jury in the McGregor trial was told the balance of probabilities means they had to decide if something was more likely to have been true than not.
After her victory, Ms Hand told the Irish Mail on Sunday that the result means her young daughter does not have to grow up in a world where she has to ‘shut up and say nothing’.
Asked how she felt the day after her marathon court case – which attracted global media attention – she admitted: ‘I am just exhausted, to be honest with you, I’m just really tired,’ adding that she is ‘just trying to kind of take it day-by-day now’.
She also said she has been inundated with supportive calls, texts, emails and messages after a civil trial jury award her damages against McGregor.
‘I’m just very overwhelmed with the support as well, now, that I have received.’
Asked if she expected to win the case, she replied: ‘To win? Yeah, yes, yes. Yes, because my story is true. I always believed in my heart that I would [win].’
Referring to the decision of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) not to proceed with a criminal trial, she added: ‘Obviously with the DPP, that didn’t work out, but yeah, I always felt like I was gonna win because I was telling the truth from day one, you know.’
