Woman denies that CCTV ‘flatly contradicts’ her claim she was raped by Conor McGregor

A woman who has alleged she was raped by mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor in a Dublin hotel bedroom has denied that CCTV footage “flatly contradicts” her account of what happened.
Nikita Hand, who became distressed during continuing cross-examination in her High Court civil action, said she did not want to watch the CCTV footage, including footage of her in the lift of the Beacon Hotel in Sandyford on December 9th, 2018 with Mr McGregor.
She had no memory of the CCTV, she said. It was a “very hard watch” when it was shown to her and the jury on Wednesday during her direct examination.
“It’s not me, not my character, I’m drunk, I’m stumbling. I don’t want to have to look at it again, it’s very disturbing for me.”
Remy Farrell SC, for Mr McGregor, put to her it is very disturbing “because everything in it flatly contradicts what you said”.
The witness replied: “No, the footage does not take away what happened to me in that room with Conor. I know what happened to me, I was brutally raped and battered.”
The cross-examination of Ms Hand continued on Thursday, the third day of her civil action for damages against Mr McGregor and James Lawrence, of Rafters Road, Drimnagh, over alleged sexual assault of her on December 9th, 2018.
Both men deny the claims.
In her direct evidence, Ms Hand (35), a mother of one who was working at the time of the alleged assault as a hair colourist, has told the jury Mr McGregor pinned her down onto a bed in the penthouse suite in the Beacon Hotel and had choked her before raping her.
The jury has heard Ms Hand was at her work Christmas party the previous evening and continued partying into December 9th. They were told she, a female friend, Mr McGregor and Mr Lawrence took a lift from an underground car park to the penthouse suite of the hotel at about 12.30pm on December 9th.
Ms Hand has said she was drinking beer and Bacardi and took some cocaine during the Christmas party and had taken more cocaine in Mr McGregor’s car while on the way to the hotel.
The jury has heard she was examined at the Rotunda Hospital’s sexual assault trauma unit on December 10th, 2018 and a doctor detailed bruising and abrasions over several areas on her body. She made a formal statement to gardaí on January 5th, 2019.
She said she was “completely devastated” when the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) later decided there was insufficient evidence to bring a prosecution over the alleged assaults.
On Thursday, Mr Farrell put to Ms Hand that the CCTV footage contradicts her claim she had no interest in “romantic entanglement” on December 9th.
Counsel said the CCTV showed she seemed to have “romantic designs” on Mr Lawrence at some points.
Ms Hand agreed that was the case and the CCTV showed her apparently kissing Mr Lawrence.
She said she did not feel like she was wrong because she did not remember. “I know that’s me on the CCTV, but that’s not my character, I’m not acting normal, I’m very, very drunk.”
The situation in the hotel was not what she had thought it would be, she said. She thought there would be a party with more people but the mood had changed “and it just didn’t seem right”.
Counsel put to Ms Hand she had phoned Mr McGregor at 6.27pm on December 9th, 2018 and asked how she was ringing someone whom she alleged had brutally raped her earlier.
She said she did not know why she rang him and that Mr Lawrence had taken the phone out of her hands. There was a lot of hanging around, she said.
She agreed she was wrong when she told gardaí she was in the Morgan Hotel in Temple Bar in Dublin city centre rather than the Beacon. She had thought it was the Morgan because of the style of bath in the hotel suite, she said.
In reply to counsel, she said it had not occurred to her that, if garda thought it was the Morgan, CCTV would not be available.
Earlier In her cross-examination, Ms Hand agreed she was in the Beacon Hotel during the day of December 9th 2018. She did not remember leaving the hotel.
CCTV showed her leaving the hotel with Mr Lawrence at 10.28pm, counsel said.
She said, when she went home to her then partner later that night, she had a confrontation with him. She said she told him what had happened “but not who it was”.
She said her partner could see the state she was in, including the bruising. She agreed she had told him she was with her work colleagues. She did not remember telling him she had gone into the bar in the Morgan, she remembered certain things but not everything, and remembered getting frustrated with him and arguing with him.
She agreed she had lied to him about who she was with and said that was because she “did not want to sugar coat the situation”.
She only found later her partner had recorded her at that time.
When she woke up in the Beacon hotel earlier that evening, she did not remember what had happened to her, she said. She agreed she had texted her partner about 6.28pm saying she was having a good time.
Earlier, just before the cross-examination resumed, Mr Justice Alexander Owens told the jury his role includes ensuring the rules of evidence apply.
He said various documents given to them the previous day, including correspondence from the DPP, were not evidence, were not relevant to the issues they have to decide and would be taken back. The jury can only deal with the evidence given in court, he said.
The DPP’s view is “of no use at all” in the context of this case and should not influence their decision, he said.
The cross-examination is continuing.