Conor McGregor found to have assaulted woman in hotel and told to pay huge damages

Conor McGregor has been held responsible for assaulting a woman in a Dublin hotel six years ago, with a jury awarding her just over £200,000 in damages. The former UFC champion was accused in the civil action of sexually assaulting Nikita Hand at a south Dublin hotel in December 2018.

The Irish sports star maintained in court that he had consensual sex with Ms Hand in a penthouse at the Beacon Hotel. Ms Hand, also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, was also suing another man, James Lawrence, for assault, but the jury found Mr Lawrence not guilty of assault.

After eight days of evidence and three days of closing speeches and the judge's charge, the jury, consisting of eight women and four men, began their deliberations at 3.03pm on Thursday. On Friday, they requested a cable to enlarge the CCTV footage from the day of the alleged assault before delivering their verdict shortly before 5pm after six hours and 10 minutes of deliberation.

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McGregor, who was joined in court on Friday by his family, including his partner Dee Devlin, parents, sister and brother-in-law, shook his head as the jury returned with their verdict. He was instructed to pay Ms Hand €248,603.60 (£206,556.03) in damages, reports the Mirror.

As the trial was not criminal, he could not have faced a prison sentence and left the court without making any comment. McGregor hasn't stepped into the UFC ring for more than three-and-a-half years, since his leg break during his trilogy fight with Dustin Poirier in 2021.

He was scheduled to make a comeback this past summer but withdrew from his bout with Michael Chandler at a fortnight's notice due to a broken toe.