Jury finds Conor McGregor liable, to pay S$348,0000 to woman who claimed he raped her in Dec. 2018

A jury found Conor McGregor, 36, guilty of raping a woman after the victim filed a civil suit and took the case to court.

The Irish mixed martial arts fighter has been ordered to pay more than €248,000 (S$348,0000) in damages to the woman, Nikita Hand, 35, as he was found to have assaulted her in a Dublin hotel in December 2018, BBC reported.

McGregor said he would appeal against the verdict.

He took to X and thanked "all my support worldwide".

"I am with my family now, focused on my future" he wrote.

His full response read:

"I have instructed my legal team to appeal today's decision. The judge's instruction and the modest award given was for assault, there was not an award for aggravated or exemplary damages."

"I am disappointed that the jury did not hear all the evidence that the DPP reviewed. I am with my family, focused on my future."

Jury took 6 hours to decide

The jury at the High Court in Dublin, made up of eight women and four men, deliberated their decision for six hours and 10 minutes before returning with the verdict, BBC added.

This was after eight days of evidence and three days listening to closing speeches and the judge's comments.

Reactions to verdict

McGregor shook his head after the jury read out the verdict.

He was accompanied by his partner Dee Devlin, his parents, his sister and his brother-in-law.

He sat between his partner and mother in the back row.

Hand, a mother-of-one, cried and was hugged by her partner and supporters, BBC observed.

Hand is also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, and this was the name that was previously reported in media.

Another man involved

The plaintiff had also commenced a case against another man, James Lawrence, 35, who is also from Dublin.

She alleged that he assaulted her by having sex with her without her consent in the Beacon Hotel.

The jury found that he did not assault her.

Both McGregor and Lawrence had previously denied the claims by the hair colourist and said they separately had consensual sex with her at the hotel almost six years ago.

What happened

On the day of the attack, Hand and her colleague Danielle Kealy went to the hotel's penthouse suite with McGregor and Lawrence after their work Christmas party.

Hand and McGregor had apparently known each other for a long time, having come from the same area with mutual friends.

They had apparently been partying all night from Dec. 8 till Dec. 9 morning.

They drank heavily and used cocaine, the jury heard.

Hand told the court that McGregor had pinned her to a bed before assaulting her.

She sustained extensive bruises and abrasions over her body, including on her hands and wrists.

There was a 9cm bloodied scratch on her breast and tenderness on her neck.

Hand said she was placed in a "chokehold" by McGregor.

He denied injuring her, saying she "swan dived" into the bath in the hotel room, which could have resulted in her injuries.

Hand was taken in an ambulance to a hospital in Dublin the next day.

She was assessed in the sexual assault treatment unit.

It was previously reported that Hand, on the night of the assault, was wearing a tampon, which had been "wedged inside", requiring the use of forceps to extricate it.

The jury heard that Hand left her job as a hairdresser and has not been able to work since due to her mental health.

They also heard that her relationship with her partner ended months after the incident, and that she had to move out of her home, and that her mortgage has been in arrears.

Top photo via Conor McGregor Facebook