Conor McGregor ordered by judge not to disseminate CCTV footage shown to civil rape trial jury

Lawyers for Nikita Hand claimed the reported ‘imminent’ release of CCTV footage was bid to ‘discredit’ civil jury decision that MMA fighter raped her

Nikita Hand: dissemination of the CCTV would breach Conor McGregor’s obligations under the court’s discovery process, be a civil contempt and a potential breach of Ms Hand’s privacy rights, the judge said. Photograph: Collins Courts
Nikita Hand: dissemination of the CCTV would breach Conor McGregor’s obligations under the court’s discovery process, be a civil contempt and a potential breach of Ms Hand’s privacy rights, the judge said. Photograph: Collins Courts

Conor McGregor has been ordered by the High Court not to disseminate CCTV footage used in a civil trial which culminated in a jury verdict that he raped a woman in a Dublin hotel.

Mr Justice Alexander Owens granted the order to lawyers for Nikita Hand after finding “a real danger” that the mixed martial arts fighter would disseminate the CCTV to an Italian business partner who reportedly posted on social media that it would be released this month and would change the public’s view of Mr McGregor and boost sales of his stout.

The judge said a High Court civil jury last November “conclusively” determined Mr McGregor raped Ms Hand in the Beacon Hotel in Sandyford on December 9th, 2018.

Mr McGregor was not entitled to disseminate “bits and pieces” of discovered material and does not get “another run” at the case by throwing out allegations on social media that Ms Hand lied in the case, or by using surrogates, he said.

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Dissemination of the CCTV would breach Mr McGregor’s obligations under the court’s discovery process, be a civil contempt and a potential breach of Ms Hand’s privacy rights, the judge said.

Ms Hand (35) was awarded almost €250,000 damages against Mr McGregor on foot of the jury verdict last November. The jury found James Lawrence (35), of Rafter’s Road, Drimnagh, a friend of Mr McGregor’s, had not assaulted her in the hotel after Mr McGregor left.

The CCTV played at trial showed Ms Hand interacting with the two men in the car park and in the elevator to and from the hotel’s penthouse suite. Ms Hand denied the footage contradicted her claims, said she found it a “very hard watch” as she was drunk and stumbling and it did not take away from the fact she was “brutally raped and battered”.

Mary Carolan

Mary Carolan

Mary Carolan is the Legal Affairs Correspondent of the Irish Times