Conor McGregor was ordered to pay £200,000 to Nikita Hand after a court found him liable for her assault in a Dublin hotel six years ago
Nikita Hand reads statement after winning civil case against Conor McGregor
Conor McGregor couldn’t help but get into a social media war of words with Jake Paul – just hours after losing a civil claim for damages to a woman who claimed he raped her.
The former UFC champion denies raping Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel in December 2018, but she won her claim against him for damages in a civil case at the High Court in the Irish capital on Friday. The jury delivered its verdict and awarded Ms Hand just over £200k in damages.
Unsurprisingly, that saw a host of the Irishman’s MMA and boxing rivals lined up to take pops at McGregor following the news, with Paul – fresh from his fight against Mike Tyson last weekend – taking aim on Twitter.
Engineering himself into it, and showcasing that he doesn’t know the difference between a civil case and a criminal one, Paul wrote: “Dana hits his wife Conor’s convicted of rape But I’m the bad guy”.
McGregor, from his TheNotoriousMMA twitter handle, replied: “No you’re a little gay nerd”.
That prompted Paul to again respond, stating: “Calling someone gay and thinking you are hitting them with a zinger shows how cooked Conor’s brain is from all the coke. Shout out to all the nerds.”
McGregor – who has not been convicted of a crime, despite what Paul’s tweet says – had faced an accusation that he “brutally raped and battered” Hand at a hotel in south Dublin in December 2018.
The Irish sports star previously told the court he had consensual sex with Hand in a penthouse at the Beacon Hotel. Hand, who is also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, lost her case against another man, James Lawrence, whom she accused of assaulting her by allegedly having sex without her consent at the same hotel.
After eight days of evidence and three days listening to closing speeches and the judge’s charge, the jury of eight women and four men spent six hours and 10 minutes deliberating before returning their verdict.
McGregor shook his head after the jury read out that Hand had won her case against him. The 36-year-old made no comment as he left court but later said he intends to appeal.
“I will be appealing today’s decision,” he said, before adding: “I am with my family now, focused on my future.”
Speaking outside court earlier, Ms Hand said she hoped her case would remind victims of assault to keep “pushing forward for justice”.
“I hope my story is a reminder that no matter how afraid you might be, speak up, you have a voice and keep on fighting for justice,” she said. “I know this has impacted not only my life, my daughter’s, my family and friends tremendously. It’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life. Now that justice has been served, I can now try and move on and look forward to the future with my family and friends and daughter.”
Asked if she felt vindicated after the jury’s decision, she said: “Yes, I do. Thank you.”