MMA Fighter Conor McGregor Loses Civil Sexual Assault Case

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Facts

  • A civil jury at the Irish High Court in Dublin, Ireland, ruled on Friday that mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter and former two-weight UFC champion Conor McGregor sexually assaulted plaintiff Nikita Hand in a hotel in December 2018.[1][2]
  • Unlike in a criminal case, jurors in this trial were told to decide on the balance of probabilities — meaning that they had to determine whether allegations were more likely to have been true than not, rather than being satisfied beyond reasonable doubt.[3][4]
  • The victim was awarded over €248K ($260K) in damages, after she claimed that McGregor 'sexually assaulted, and in effect, raped her' on Dec. 9, 2018. According to the Irish Mail, a similar sum had been offered to her before the trial.[3][5][6]
  • McGregor said he intends to appeal his guilty verdict while claiming that justice had been served to his friend and co-defendant James Lawrence, who was acquitted of civil liability in the case.[4][7]
  • A hearing this week will determine who should pay the costs of the two-and-a-half week-long trial, estimated at 'well over' €1M. By default, Hand would be liable for Lawrence's costs, though the High Court is free to deviate from the rule.[5][8]
  • On Monday, a protest was set to take place outside the office of the Director of the Public Prosecutors (DPP) over its decision not to charge McGregor in a criminal court.[9][10]

Sources: [1]BBC News, [2]GB News, [3]TheJournal.ie, [4]Daily Mail, [5]Extra.ie, [6]New York Times, [7]Associated Press, [8]RTE.ie, [9]Irish Examiner and [10]The Sun.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Glamour UK. It took a lot of courage for Nikita Hand to step up and file a long-shot civil rape case against a powerful man such as Conor McGregor — who, in his prime, was a national hero in Ireland. That courage has paid off, offering hope for victims of sexual violence and showing that this is a fight worth continuing.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Keith Woods on X. This guilty verdict is a travesty of justice that, unsurprisingly, is in line with the desire of the Irish establishment to defame McGregor and neutralize his rise as the voice of the voiceless. Despite witnesses and CCTV footage telling a completely opposing chain of events, people are happy to smear this Irish hero as a rapist and even though this wasn't a criminal court verdict.