This report contains details some readers may find distressing.
The woman who has taken a lawsuit against Conor McGregor over an alleged rape in a Dublin hotel, has described his version of events as “a made-up story”.
Nikita Hand, a hair colourist from Drimnagh, is suing the MMA fighter for damages, claiming he raped her in the penthouse suite of the Beacon Hotel in December 2018.
Under cross-examination today, Mr McGregor’s version of events was put to Nikita Hand.
He claims she followed him into a bedroom in the penthouse suite of the Beacon Hotel and approached him while he was using the bathroom.
Mr McGregor said that they started kissing while his belt and trousers were open.
He also said that she largely took her own clothes off and gave him oral sex before they had sex on the bed.
Ms Hand denied these statements.
It was also put to her that she had consensual sex with him a second time.
She denied that too, claiming it was all a “made-up story”.
In her evidence, she claimed that after refusing Conor McGregor’s advances in the bedroom, he pinned her on the bed, got her into a chokehold and raped her.
A second named defendant also denies raping her, claiming he also had consensual sex with her later that day.
Ms Hand told the jury that she deleted messages and her Instagram account afterward her alleged rape because she was scared.
She said she also told a colleague, who was in the hotel with them, to delete all her text messages too.
When asked why she did that, Ms Hand said it was because she didn’t want to press charges at that time, and she was afraid.
The jury also heard a recording of Ms Hand telling her boyfriend that Mr McGregor told her he’d kill her.
Nikita Hand claims Conor McGregor “brutally raped” and “battered” her sometime between 12.34pm and 6.12pm on the day in question.
She had been partying since the night before, drinking and taking cocaine, and claimed it happened after she resisted his advances in the bedroom of the hotel suite.
After Mr McGregor left the hotel, Ms Hand said she stayed back with his friend, the second named defendant, James Lawrence, of Rafter’s Road, Drimmagh.
She said she doesn’t know why she did that and denies his claim that they had consensual sex two times after McGregor left.
When she got home to her then boyfriend, she told him that she had been raped but refused to tell him who did it.
Ms Hand’s then boyfriend secretly recorded their conversation, which was played for the jury today.
In the recording, she could be heard telling him: “I can't tell you who it was, he’ll kill me”.
Later in the recording she said: “He told me he’d kill me”.
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.
Main image: Conor McGregor leaves the High Court today. 07/11/2024 Photograph: Leah Farrell / © RollingNews.ie