This report contains details some readers may find distressing.

Conor McGregor is back at the High Court this morning for the second day of his civil trial.

The UFC fighter is being sued by a 35-year-old woman who claims he and another man raped her in a Dublin hotel six years ago.

Nikita Ní Laimhín, who yesterday told the court she prefers to be called Nikita Hand, claims Mr McGregor got her into a stranglehold before she “subjected herself to what was about to happen.”

Mr McGregor and the other man named in the suit - James Lawrence of Rafter’s Road in Drimnagh - deny raping her, claiming that everything that happened on the night was consensual.

Opening statements

Opening the case on behalf of Ms Hand yesterday, John Gordon SC told the jury that while the case may be complicated, “it is, in fact, extremely simple”.

He said the facts of the trial are “stark” – adding that they can be “communicated in five or six sentences”.

Nikita Ni Laimhin (Hand) arrives at the Hight Court for her personal injuries case against Conor McGregor, 06-11-2024. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews

The court heard that Ms Hand was at a work Christmas party on December 8th, 2018.

The jury heard that she is “no angel and doesn’t pretend to be”, with Mr Gordon noting that she was partying hard on the night, drinking and taking cocaine.

He also noted that she was on anti-depressant medication at the time.

Mr Gordon said Ms Hand had previously been in contact with Mr McGregor on social media and said she contacted him late in the night after the party.

He picked Ms Hand up alongside her friend the following morning and they drove around in his car before picking up Mr Lawrence and travelling on to The Beacon Hotel in Dublin.

Hotel

At the hotel, the group continued drinking with some of Mr McGregor’s security detail before the UFC fighter beckoned Ms Hand to perform a sex act on him, which she refused.

Mr Gordon said Mr McGregor then pinned her onto the bed and got her into an armlock until she couldn’t resist anymore.

He noted that she was “clearly no physical match for him” adding that the court will later see images of bruising on her hands and wrists.

UFC fighter Conor McGregor leaving the High Court where he is being sued by a woman who claims he raped her, 05-11-2024. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews

He said Mr McGregor put her in an armlock and told her, “That’s how I felt when I was in the Octagon and I had to tap myself out three times”.

The barrister said Ms Hand was in a state of “complete terror” so she “subjected herself to what was about to happen,” which he described as a “violent, vicious” sexual assault.

He noted that she had no time to remove the tampon she was wearing – and the hospital later had to remove it with forceps.

He said Mr McGregor has claimed he had sex with her a second time later in the night; however, she does not recall this.

Aftermath

Mr Gordon told the jury that Ms Hand’s conduct after the alleged assault “will seem to you as extraordinary” – noting that she did not rush to call 999 or ask for help.

He noted that she was “full of drugs” and “bizarrely” stayed at the hotel with Mr Lawrence for some hours after the alleged attack.

He said she “seemed to be all lovey-dovey” with Mr Lawrence and stayed at the hotel with him until 7pm that evening.

Conor McGregor’s co-defendant James Lawrence arrives at the High Court in Dublin, 06-11-2024. Image: PA Images / Alamy

They eventually shared a taxi from the hotel and, “He went his way, and she went home”.

Mr Gordon noted that she never made any complaint against Mr Lawrence until she learned months later that he also claimed to have had sex with her twice on the night.

He said Ms Hand has “no recollection of such an event ever happening”.

“Shock”

Mr Gordon said that by the time Ms Hand came home to her partner and young daughter she was a “wreck”.

He said her partner had to get up for work and bring their child to school so Ms Hand went to her mother’s house.

Nikita Ni Laimhin (Hand) arrives at the Hight Court for her personal injuries case against Conor McGregor, 06-11-2024. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews

She was planning to go to the hospital but didn’t want to make a complaint or identify Mr McGregor because she was frightened.

Her mother called the guards and she was taken by ambulance to hospital.

Mr Gordon said the court will hear evidence from ambulance personnel and see ambulance footage showing that Ms Hand was “an absolute wreck – constantly weeping, shivering, in pain and unable to get comfortable”.

Alleged Assault

He noted that Mr McGregor will tell the court that the encounter was consensual describing it as “just having fun and a bit of rough sex”.

The barrister said he believes the jury will find it “unimaginable” that she would have consented to “what has to have been a really brutal assault on her body”.

Defence

Mr Gordon said the defence will issue a “blanket denial" of his client’s claims.

He said they will claim that she asked Mr McGregor to have sex for a second time and was enjoying herself on both occasions.

They will say the encounter was “physical and involved a number of different positions” – but at no point did she say she was unhappy or ask him to stop.

They will say that she was “in good form” in the early evening of December 9th and kept asking Mr McGregor to stay at the hotel.

UFC fighter Conor McGregor arrives at the High Court to face a damages claim over an alleged incident in a Dublin hotel, 05-11-2024. Image: Leah Farrell/RollingNews

The senior counsel said they will note that she was “flirtatious” with Mr Lawrence in the hotel hallway that evening, "laughing and playfully biting his ear".

They will also say that she didn’t want to go home and had consensual sex with Mr Lawrence twice that evening.

The defence will say that Ms Hand told Mr Lawrence that she enjoyed having sex with Mr McGregor but later became upset when she noticed bruising on her arm and asked him what she was going to say to her boyfriend.

They will note that she had numerous opportunities to complain to various people from the time she arrived at the hotel to the time she was dropped off in the taxi but did not do so – noting that she had her phone with her at all times.

He said the defence has called her claim “malicious and made in bad faith” – and labelled it an “attempt at extortion”.

Impact

Mr Gordon said the experience has had a “profound and lasting effect” on his client – adding that she suffers from panic attacks and now lives in fear of Mr McGregor.

He said her relationship with her partner ended two years after the alleged incident but she has a new partner who was in court with her yesterday.

He said his client is seeking “closure and vindication”, adding that she “needs to be able to hold her head up high having called out these appalling crimes”.

The trial continues today.

If you have been impacted by rape or sexual assault you can contact the Rape Crisis Centre 24-Hour National Helpline on 1800 77 8888.