Conor McGregor loses appeal in civil rape case

Conor McGregor has lost his appeal against a civil court ruling that found he sexually assaulted a woman, Nikita Hand, in a Dublin hotel in 2018.

The Court of Appeal in Dublin upheld the original jury decision, which ordered McGregor to pay £206,000 in damages plus legal costs.

McGregor’s legal team argued that his repeated “no comment” responses during garda interviews, more than 100 in total, should not have been shown to the jury.

They also took issue with the wording of the verdict form, which asked jurors whether McGregor had “assaulted” Hand, rather than specifying “sexual assault.”

However, three senior judges dismissed all grounds of appeal, stating there was no “real risk of unfair trial” and calling the jury confusion argument “simply unreal.” They ruled unanimously to reject McGregor’s appeal in full.

The MMA star was not present in court for the decision. Nikita Hand attended with a group of supporters.

Speaking afterward, she said the appeal process had “retraumatised” her and made healing difficult.

She said, “This appeal has retraumatised me over and over again, being forced to relive it. What happened has had a huge impact on me. To every survivor out there—don’t be silenced. You deserve to be heard. You also deserve justice.”

Hand had alleged that both McGregor and his friend James Lawrence raped her. Both men claimed the encounter was consensual. While the jury cleared Lawrence of assault, he too lost an appeal—this time against having to pay his share of the legal costs.

McGregor’s legal team had also attempted to introduce new evidence from two former neighbors of Ms Hand, who claimed they witnessed a fight between her and an ex-partner in December 2018. McGregor’s team argued that this could explain bruising on her body.

However, they later withdrew the request to include this evidence. The judges called the withdrawal “somewhat mysterious” and awarded additional costs to Hand.

The appeal also challenged the judge’s instructions to the jury during the original trial, but the court found no grounds to support that either.

This ruling closes another chapter in the high-profile case that has put McGregor under continued public and legal scrutiny. Despite denying all allegations, the former UFC champion now faces the financial and reputational consequences of the civil verdict.

(BBC Sport)

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