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A jury at a civil trial at Eire’s excessive courtroom has discovered that the Irish martial arts fighter Conor McGregor assaulted a lady who had accused him of raping her at a resort in Dublin in December 2018.
McGregor was ordered to pay almost €250,000 (£210,000) in damages to Nikita Hand, who’s also called Nikita Ní Laimhín.
Legal professionals for Hand had accused McGregor, 36, of “brutally raping and battering” her after she invited him to hitch her and a pal at a piece Christmas occasion.
Hand additionally alleged that one other man, James Lawrence, who joined the occasion, sexually assaulted her. The jury discovered that Lawrence didn’t assault Hand.
Talking exterior the courtroom after the decision, Hand, 35, informed reporters that she was “overwhelmed” by the help she had acquired. She thanked her household and a employees member from a rape disaster centre who had sat beside her all through “this complete interval”, together with the two-week trial.
Hand mentioned, referring to her daughter: “I wish to present Freya and each different woman and boy that you could arise for your self if one thing occurs to you, irrespective of who the particular person, is and justice shall be served.
“To all of the victims of sexual assault, I hope my story is a reminder that irrespective of how afraid you is perhaps, converse up, you have got a voice, and carry on preventing for justice.”
She mentioned she hoped to rebuild her life now that the six-year ordeal was over.
Hand, who grew up in the identical space of Dublin as McGregor, took the civil courtroom case primarily to be vindicated, her barrister had informed the courtroom, after the director of public prosecutions determined to not pursue a felony case on the grounds that there was no cheap prospect of a conviction.
McGregor doubled over together with his head in his arms and shook his head because the jury returned its verdict and awarded Hand damages of €248,603.
He later mentioned he would enchantment towards the choice, writing on X: “The decide’s instruction and the modest award given was for assault, not for aggravated or exemplary damages. I’m upset that the jury didn’t hear all of the proof that the [director of public prosecutions] reviewed. I’m with my household now, centered on my future.”
There have been tense scenes in courtroom as McGregor arrived with a big supporter and household contingent together with his companion, Dee Devlin, his mom, Margaret McGregor, and sister Aoife McGregor, alongside together with his boxing coach, Philip Sutcliffe, standing on the again simply toes away from Hand.
McGregor had denied the allegations, saying that he had “totally consensual intercourse” with Hand. He additionally denied inflicting bruising to her. He informed the courtroom that Hand’s accusations towards him have been “stuffed with lies” verging on “fantasy”.
Hand had informed the courtroom that she and a pal made contact with McGregor, whom she knew, after a piece Christmas occasion. She mentioned they have been pushed by McGregor to a celebration in a penthouse room of a south Dublin resort, the place medicine and alcohol have been consumed. She mentioned McGregor took her to a bed room within the penthouse and sexually assaulted her. Hand’s lawyer John Gordon mentioned she was on antidepressants and “full of medicine” on the time of the alleged assault.
The decision is more likely to renew questions in regards to the problem of bringing rape instances to courtroom. Hand’s barrister informed the courtroom this week that regardless of the consequence she would “all the time be a marked girl” as a result of she had the “braveness” to face as much as the fighter.
Hand had informed the jury she was “completely devastated and let down” when the director of public prosecutions informed her they might not be progressing her file.
Over the 2 weeks of the trial, the jury heard harrowing accounts of the incident, together with a 45-minute recording of a dialog during which a deeply distressed Hand informed her then boyfriend in regards to the alleged rape.
The courtroom heard Hand saying McGregor had pinned her down on the mattress with all his physique weight, and claiming he had put her head in a headlock, mock-choking her 3 times in a “terrifying” episode.
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