Woman claims MMA fighter choked her before rape

A woman who has accused Irish mixed martial artist Conor McGregor of raping her has told a court he choked her three times and she thought she was going to die.

Nikita Hand has taken civil action against Mr McGregor and another man, seeking damages for an alleged sex attack in a Dublin hotel in December 2018.

Mr McGregor denies the allegations and his lawyers told an earlier hearing that Ms Hand is attempting extortion.

In 2020, Ireland’s Director of Public Prosecutions decided not to criminally prosecute either man due to a lack of evidence and no reasonable prospect of conviction.

In a Republic of Ireland civil action – as opposed to a criminal case – neither the complainant nor the two accused men are entitled to automatic anonymity during the court proceedings.

As she gave evidence on Wednesday, Ms Hand was visibly shaking and the court was adjourned repeatedly so she could take breaks.

The former hair colourist outlined her recollections of the alleged attack, which began after a Christmas night out with colleagues on Saturday 8 December 2018.

Ms Hand had been drinking and admitted she had taken cocaine when she contacted Mr McGregor that night.

She said he collected her and a friend from the salon in a chauffeured car to go to another party.

Ms Hand went to a penthouse suite in the Beacon Hotel with a group who included Mr McGregor and his security team.

She recalled telling Mr McGregor she was not there for sex – that she had a boyfriend and knew his partner.

But she claimed Mr McGregor placed her in a chokehold and choked her three times.

“He pinned me down on the bed, I held my hands to my chest, he put his body weight on top of me.”

Ms Hand said she could not breathe and felt her “only defence was to bite him”.

“He didn’t like it. So he flipped around and had me by the neck and shoulders,” she said.

Ms Hand alleged that at this stage she froze.

“I couldn’t move, I was staring at the bed post thinking about my daughter, thinking I was gonna die,” she said.

“I thought I’d never see my daughter again.”

After this, she alleged Mr McGregor let her go and she apologised to him to “reassure” him so that “he wouldn’t hurt me again”.

Ms Hand said that McGregor said: “‘That’s how I felt in the octagon and I had to tap myself out three times’.

She added: “I thought it was such a weird thing to say. I promised him I wouldn’t tell anyone anything.

“I just let him do whatever he needed to do, so I could survive, I wasn’t myself anymore.”

After this, Ms Hand alleges the MMA fighter pulled off her clothes and raped her.

She said she later woke up in a panic, worried she had not contacted her partner.

She texted her partner saying she was having a great time, but Ms Hand told the court she had done this because she “didn’t want to worry him”.

When McGregor left, Ms Hand was left in the hotel room with the second defendant James Lawerence, from Rafters Road in Drimnagh, Dublin.

“I remember breaking down then,” she said.

“Things were coming back to me, looking at my arms. I said: ‘You all turned a blind eye to what Conor does to women.'”

Ms Hand claims Mr Lawerence replied: “I cant believe I was in this room when that was happening to you.”

She added he tried to calm her and ordered her a burger and chips.

In the days after the alleged attack, Ms Hand told a colleague and then her mother about the alleged attack.

She sought hospital treatment and began engaging with the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre.

But when she reported the attack to gardaí at a later date, she was told Mr Lawrence claimed that he had sex with her on the same night in the hotel.

“I was shocked, I had no memory of that whatsoever,” Ms Hand told the court.

“I thought James was looking out for me and he says things like that.”

The court was later shown CCTV footage of Mr McGregor leaving the hotel at about 18:00 GMT on the Sunday night, while Ms Hand and Ms Lawrence left at 22:17 GMT.

Ms Hand and Mr Lawrence appeared barefoot in some of the CCTV footage – they were carrying drinks and struggling to return to their room from the hotel lift.

Ms Hand wept and shook as the footage was played, saying she had no recollection of being in the lift or carpark.

In the time since the alleged attack, the court heard Ms Hand has been unable to work due to mental health issues and is living on disability allowance.

The case continues.