MMA fighter Conor McGregor has landed in huge trouble. The Irish mixed martial arts fighter allegedly raped a woman in a Dublin hotel, the city’s high court has been informed. The victim, named Nikita Ní Laimhín is claiming civil damages against superstar McGregor and another man, alleging she was sexually assaulted in Dec 2018.
The court, however, heard on Tuesday (Nov 5), McGregor’s lawyers who claim that Nikita is simply attempting extortion. The fighter was also in court to hear Justice Alexander Owens tell the jury it is alleged Nikita was sexually assaulted by McGregor and James Lawrence on Dec 9. The judge further claimed it was alleged that the ones in question had “in effect raped her”.
The court was told McGregor collected Nikita, a hairdresser in Dublin, and her friend after a Christmas party on Dec 8.
John Gordon SC, for Nikita, stated that McGregor knew his client for long. She was out with her friends on the night of the alleged incident when she only contacted him, and headed to another party after being picked by McGregor.
It is reported that McGregor had a bag of cocaine, which was shared between him, Nikita and her friend before the former’s driver took them to Lawrence’s house, who joined them in the ride. Both the ladies had already been drinking and had cocaine. Notably, the court also heard that Nikita suffered from depression and was on antidepressants.
Upon reaching a penthouse suite in the Beacon hotel in Dublin, they continued to have a good time and were drinking and laughing before all hell broke loose.
McGregor allegedly went into a bedroom and asked Nikita to come along. The court was informed that the Irish fighter “came on to her”, however, Nikita did not want to have sexual intercourse with him as she was on her period.
Gordon further told the court, “She will tell you that she was nervous, that she tried to push him off her but she was completely unable to do so. You will see pictures of her hands and wrists, which are black and blue. You will see that her left breast has a bloodied scratch. The scratch is there because she was wearing a watch and had her hands up to protect herself. She was pressed down on and the watch scarred her breast.
“Mr McGregor then flips her over and puts her arm in a lock and draws her up by the neck. She can’t breathe. And he does it again. By the third time he does it, she gives up. She can’t resist this any more. In the course of this, he says: “‘Now you know what it was like to be in the Octagon when I went down three times.’ She was at this point completely terrified. She subjected herself to what was about to happen, which was a violent and vicious assault.”
Later, it was alleged that Nikita also had sex with Lawrence. However, Gordon revealed that his client had no memory of such an event taking place. Nikita then went to her mother’s house, who in turn, called 999.
Gordon said, “In the face of this, Mr McGregor will tell you that this was a consensual encounter, that they were just having fun and a bit of rough sex. That’s his answer. What did I say about common sense? Don’t be fooled into leaving it behind in this [court] room. What he is saying is that she gave him a licence to carry out what has to have been a brutal assault on her body.”
In addition, the court also heard from Dr Daniel Keane, a gynaecologist and a forensic examiner in sexual assault cases. In his report, the doctor claimed that Nikita came to him and told that the alleged attacker grabbed her by the neck and stopped her from breathing. As per him, she claimed of being unable to fight back and thought she was going to die.
The defence, on the other hand, pointed out that Nikita had several opportunities to complain about her treatment, however, she chose not to. Additionally, it claimed that she was engaged in an attempt at extortion.
The hearing will continue and action is expected to last around two weeks.