Conor McGregor's rape accuser moved after masked men break in and stab boyfriend

The woman who accused Conor McGregor of rape and subsequently won £200k in a civil claim for damages, was forced to relocate after her home was broken into by a group of men wearing balaclavas, believed to be supporters of the UFC fighter. They stabbed her boyfriend while their baby was sleeping in the next room.

Nikita Hand, the accuser, won her claim against the sportsman at the High Court in Dublin on Friday. Former UFC champion McGregor had been accused of "brutally raping and battering" Hand at a hotel in south Dublin in December 2018, an accusation he denied in court.

After just over six hours of deliberation, the jury returned their verdicts that McGregor, 36, had assaulted Ms Hand. Hand, also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, lost her case against another man, James Lawrence, whom she accused of assaulting her by allegedly having sex without her consent at the same hotel.

McGregor, accompanied by his family, including his partner Dee Devlin, parents, sister and brother-in-law, shook his head after the jury announced that Hand had won her case against him. At the beginning of the trial, the terrifying story of the break-in emerged, in the context of a claim she wanted to make, for the cost of moving away from Drimnagh in Dublin.

With no jury present, her counsel, John Gordon, told Judge Alexander Owens that the incident had occurred on June 14 this year - although there was no suggestion that McGregor had anything to do with the break-in, reports the Mirror.

"The plaintiff's home was invaded by a group of men wearing balaclavas," Gordon said. "They broke into the plaintiff's bedroom, and were driven out by the plaintiff's partner, who suffered a stab wound in the process. Her daughter was in the next room, sleeping."

He continued: "We are not laying that at the feet of the defendants, or saying they have anything to do with that. "We do make the claim that it was not an untargeted attack, [it] arose from supporters of the first named defendant [Mr McGregor].

It is related to the claim that she had to move out of the Drimnagh area. Judge Owens asked: "You are not making the claim or going to tender evidence that Mr McGregor had anything to do with it? "Mr Gordon replied: "No, judge, it is an item of special damage. It relates to her state of anxiety and her claim that she had to move from the Drimnagh area, as she now has done."

The court heard she had sought relocation costs of €750k.

In response, McGregor's barrister, Remy Farrell said it appeared as though Ms Hand was introducing a claim "which is nothing to do with us."

It is extraordinary that there would be an attempt to smuggle something like that into the case...to increase the special damages,' he said, and complained that it would be "an invitation to the jury to speculate. Judge Owens ruled: 'I consider this to be completely and utterly irrelevant and shouldn't be referred to.

" The Garda press office confirmed a house break-in at the time, but did not make any connection to McGregor. A Garda spokeswoman stated: "Gardaí received report of an incident of aggravated burglary that occurred at a premises in Drimnagh, Dublin 12 at approximately 2.20am this morning, Friday, June 14. One man in his 30s has been conveyed to St James's Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries sustained as a result of this incident.

" McGregor remained silent as he exited the court but later announced on social media his intention to challenge the court's ruling. "I will be appealing today's decision," he declared. He continued: "I am with my family now, focused on my future. Thank you to all my support worldwide.

" Following the verdict on Friday, Ms Hand was visibly emotional and received comfort from her partner. Outside the court, she expressed her desire that her experience would inspire other sexual assault survivors to persist in their quest for justice. "To all the victims of sexual assault, I hope my story is a reminder you have a voice and to keep on fighting for justice," she remarked. She acknowledged the profound effect the ordeal had on her life, her daughter's, and those close to them, something she would never forget. However, with justice served, she looked forward to moving on and embracing the future with her loved ones. McGregor, who had previously claimed in court that his encounter with Ms Hand was consensual, reiterated his commitment to appeal the verdict. "I will be appealing today's decision," he declared on social media. "The judge's instruction and the modest award given was for assault, not for aggravated or exemplary damages. I am disappointed that the jury did not hear all the evidence that the DPP reviewed.

I am with my family now, focused on my future. "The trial, which commenced on November 5, had previously been told of the events leading up to the alleged assault on December 8 into the morning of December 9 where Ms Hand and her colleague Danielle Kealy joined Conor McGregor and Mr Lawrence in a penthouse suite following their work Christmas do. It was heard that they had indulged in an all-night party, consuming large amounts of alcohol and cocaine. In her testimony, mother-of-one Ms Hand recounted how she ended up pinned down by McGregor on the hotel bed being assaulted. She recalled fearing she wouldn't see her daughter again as the MMA star was "choking" her. As the attack unfolded, the court was informed, she felt paralysed, unable to breathe or shift her position. Ms Hand described her futile attempts to escape, noting that McGregor seemed to derive pleasure from her struggle. "The only thing I could move was my head.

I bit him but I can't remember where. He didn't like it, so he flipped me around and put his arm around my neck and choked me," she vividly explained to the court. Ms Hand, a mother-of-one, suffered severe bruising and abrasions across her body, including significant purple and blue marks on her hands and wrists, a bloodied scratch on her breast, and tenderness on her neck, which she claimed resulted from being put in a "chokehold" by McGregor. McGregor disputed causing the widespread bruising, suggesting instead that it may have occurred when she "swan dived" into the hotel room's bath.