Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor lost an appeal in Ireland yesterday over a civil court ruling last year awarding damages to a woman who accused him of rape. Three judges at the Court of Appeal in Dublin dismissed all the ground
AFP | Dublin
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Mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor lost an appeal in Ireland yesterday over a civil court ruling last year awarding damages to a woman who accused him of rape.
Three judges at the Court of Appeal in Dublin dismissed all the grounds for appeal raised by McGregor, 36.
Jurors at Dublin’s High Court ain November awarded damages of almost 250,000 euros ($258,000) to Nikita Hand, 35, who alleged that McGergor raped her in a hotel in the Irish capital in 2018.
The court heard allegations that McGregor “brutally raped and battered” Hand. The Irish sports star has insisted they had consensual sex.
However Hand lost an assault lawsuit against a second man. Following the November ruling, McGregor was ordered to pay the entire costs of the case, estimated at around 1.5 million euros ($1.58 million).
He appealed the jury’s decision, seeking a re-trial of the civil case against him.
McGregor, a vocal figure in the Irish anti-immigration movement who in March met US President Donald Trump in the White House during a Saint Patrick’s Day visit, was not in court during a month of appeal hearings.
His legal team argued that judicial errors occurred in the original trial, including in how he was cross-examined.
After the ruling, Hand told reporters that the appeal had “retraumatised” her but that she can now “finally move on and try to heal”.
“To every survivor out there, I know how hard it is, but please don’t be silenced, you deserve to be heard, you also deserve justice,” she said.
