Conor McGregor, sentenced to pay 250,000 euros in a sexual assault case

MADRID 22 Nov. () –

The High Court of Justice in Dublin this Friday sentenced the Irish mixed martial arts star Conor McGregor to pay compensation of 250,000 euros to Nikita Hand, a woman whom he sexually assaulted in a hotel in the Irish capital at the beginning of December. of the year 2018.

A jury has agreed with Hand, who in his testimony stated that they both previously knew each other through mutual friends and, in the reconstruction of the events, accused McGregor of consuming cocaine before immobilizing her and strangling her on several occasions before raping her. , an extreme that the jury has not evaluated.

The mixed martial arts star has spoken out on his social networks about a sentence that he assures he will appeal. “I am disappointed that the jury has not heard all the evidence,” said McGregor, who thanked the support received and said he was “focused” on his future.

The case involved James Lawrence, a friend of McGregor’s who claimed he had also had sexual relations with Hand. The jury in the case has determined that Lawrence did not rape Hand, whose lawyers claim that the man invented the facts with the aim of discrediting the victim and making his complaint less credible.

One of the evidence that the jury has taken into account when considering Hand’s accusations as true has to do with the testimony of Dr. Daniel Kane, from the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit of a Dublin hospital, who claimed to have had They have to remove with tweezers a tampon “snapped” into the upper part of the victim’s vagina.

Additionally, the doctor assessed Hand’s injuries as a possible vaginal tear and a “multitude” of injuries, including bruises on all four of her extremities. The doctor described these injuries as “moderate to severe.” Another hospital employee stressed the severity of the victim’s bruises.

McGregor, for his part, has assured that Hand was not wearing a tampon at the time of the intercourse and has accused the victim of being “full of lies”, since their sexual relations were consensual and the bruises were not caused by him. In his testimony, Lawrence has spoken in the same terms as McGregor.

Alexander Owens’ judge already indicated at the beginning of the trial in early November that the case was of a civil nature, so it would not imply under any circumstances a criminal conviction for the former mixed martial arts champion, but rather compensation, as has happened. finally for a case of assault.