Nikita Hand is suing Conor McGregor and her former neighbours over evidence she says was 'lies'

NIKITA HAND has launched a civil action against Conor McGregor and her former neighbours, Samantha O’Reilly and Stephen Cummins, who were due to be witnesses in the former MMA fighter’s failed appeal.

The introduction of evidence related to testimony by O’Reilly and Cummins, which Hand alleges was an attempt to undermine her credibility, was withdrawn at the last minute during court proceedings. The pair never appeared in court. 

The evidence, which Hand described as “lies” in an affidavit, was brought as part of that appeal against a civil jury finding that he raped Hand, which yesterday was dismissed in its entirety by the Court of Appeal.

Hand will be represented by Coleman Legal in the new civil action. Representatives for O’Reilly, Cummins and McGregor have not yet been confirmed.

The evidence brought by McGregor was in the form of sworn claims by O’Reilly, a former neighbour of Hand in Drimnagh, that, from a bedroom in her home, she observed a physical row between Hand and her then partner, Stephen Redmond, within hours of the encounter between Hand and McGregor in the hotel.

McGregor claimed the evidence provided a “plausible” explanation for bruising on Hand’s body.

In a responding affidavit, Hand described the claims by O’Reilly, and claims by O’Reilly’s partner Steven Cummins that he heard screaming from Hand’s home on the night, as “lies”. She said Redmond never assaulted her at any time in their relationship.

McGregor wanted to introduce the evidence to back up his appeal, but dropped it at the very last minute.

Mark Mulholland KC, for McGregor, applied to have the fresh evidence withdrawn, saying he was doing so in light of case law and reservations expressed by the court which indicated that other evidence his side wanted to adduce from a former Northern Ireland State Pathologist, Prof Jack Crane, was inadmissible.

The evidence of Prof Crane was considered necessary to corroborate the evidence of O’Reilly and Cummins, counsel said.

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Potential perjury concerns were raised by Hand’s legal team over the withdrawal of evidence.

Perjury is a criminal offence meaning to wilfully make a false statement while under oath in legal proceedings.

Hand’s lawyers told the court that the application to introduce the evidence was made “to undermine my client’s reputation” pending the outcome of the appeal.

“My client put in an application calling this out as lies,” he continued.

“She was entitled to her opportunity yesterday to call that out in this court and they withdrew the application and so prevented her from calling out what was a series of highly disparaging and unfair criticisms of my client.”

John Gordon SC, for Hand, said he was “shocked” at the withdrawal application which he only became aware of on his way to court. Hand had been “put through the wringer yet again”, she had answered the claims by saying they were “lies” and that was now conceded, he said.

In November last year, McGregor was deemed liable for sexually assaulting Hand in the Beacon Hotel on 9 December 2018, with the jury in the case awarding Hand over €248,000 in damages.

McGregor subsequently appealed this decision, but this was dismissed by the three-judge Court of Appeal yesterday.

Speaking outside court following yesterday’s ruling, Hand said she can “finally move on and try to heal”.

“This appeal has retraumatised me over and over again, being forced to relive it. What happened has had a huge impact on me,” she said.

“To every survivor out there, I know how hard it is, but please don’t be silenced. You deserve to be heard. You also deserve justice.”

Additional reporting from Jane Moore

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