Conor McGregor to find out court decision in civil rape case appeal today
Three judges are set to announce their decision on Conor McGregor's appeal later today.
The Court of Appeal will rule on the appeal by Mr McGregor against a jury finding at the High Court that he raped Nikita Hand.
The jury at the civil trial awarded her almost €250,000 after Ms Hand sued Mr McGregor for damages for raping her on December 9, 2018 at a hotel in Dublin.
The MMA fighter had asked the Court of Appeal to allow in new claims that Ms Hand was punched and kicked by her then partner just hours after she says she was raped by McGregor.
However, he withdrew his application to introduce the new evidence before the appeal started, and the Court has already said it intends to refer this matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Mark Mulholland KC, for McGregor, told the three-judge court that his side had reflected on the matter after receiving submissions from Ms Hand's legal team.
He said they had taken a view they could not proceed with the ground of appeal.
Mr Mulholland linked the decision to difficulty his side said they would have introducing a report from former Northern Ireland state pathologist Professor Jack Crane, which purportedly supported Ms O'Reilly's account.
Ms Hand's counsel John Gordon said his side was in 'shock' at the late withdrawal of the fresh evidence application.
He said Ms Hand had been 'put through the ringer' after the allegation, which she denounced as 'lies', were outlined in court and reported in the newspapers.
Mr Gordon said he should be allowed to bring the matter to the attention of the DPP for potential perjury, as well as subornation of perjury by McGregor.
Conor McGregor
News in 90 Seconds - Thursday, July 31
The presiding judge, Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, said the court would allow the withdrawal of the ground.
Mr Gordon asked if McGregor's side would apologise to Ms Hand.
Mr Mulholland responded that this was 'something we can deal with' through McGregor's solicitor Michael Staines 'in due course'.
In affidavits, Ms O'Reilly, a carer, inferred Ms Hand was assaulted by her then partner Stephen 'Ste' Redmond, while Mr Cummins, a plumber, claims he heard screams and shouting coming from Ms Hand's house.
The couple said they only came forward after seeing television reports about the trial.
Their claims were dismissed as 'lies' by Ms Hand, a hair colourist, who is in court for the hearing.
Neither Ms O'Reilly nor Mr Cummins were in court.
McGregor and his friend James Lawrence, who also has an appeal, were also not present.
Nikita Hand
Father-of-four McGregor claims he had 'vigorous' and 'fully consensual' sex with Ms Hand after they went to a penthouse in the Beacon Hotel in Sandyford in December 2018. He denied raping Ms Hand or being responsible for extensive bruising later seen on her body.
However, a civil jury answered 'yes' to the question 'Did Conor McGregor assault Nikita Hand?' and awarded her close to €250,000 in damages.
The trial judge, Mr Justice Alexander Owens, said the jury had determined McGregor had raped her.
The jury found McGregor's friend James Lawrence did not assault Ms Hand, but he was not awarded his legal costs by the High Court.
The fresh evidence application was a key ground of appeal for McGregor as his side sought to put forward an alternate theory as to how Ms Hand suffered her injuries.
However, the appeal hearing is now proceeding on other grounds of appeal before Ms Justice Kennedy, Mr Justice Brian O'Moore and Mr Justice Michael MacGrath.
The judges had been due to assess the credibility of accounts given by Ms O'Reilly and Mr Cummins, but this will no longer happen.
Remaining grounds of appeal are largely focused on the trial judge's handling of the case, including a ruling allowing the jury to hear that McGregor replied "no comment" up to 150 times in response to questions in garda interviews.
Another ground relates to the question put to the jury, asking only whether McGregor had "assaulted" Ms Hand and not specifying sexual assault.
In her affidavit, Ms O'Reilly had claimed she was woken by sounds of 'screaming and shouting' from Ms Hand's house.
Looking from her window, she said she could see 'Ste's arms moving up and down as if he was hitting Nikita'.
'I also saw him moving his hips in a way that indicated to me that he was kicking her,' she claimed.
In an affidavit, Ms Hand dismiss this account.
"My ex-partner Stephen Redmond [known as 'Ste'] did not assault me on the night of December 9/10, 2018, and never assaulted me in the course of our relationship, or since," she said.
"I don't want to speculate on why Samantha and Steven are making up these lies.".
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