Conor McGregor has taken to Instagram after Nikita Hand, a woman who successfully sued him for civil damages, requested the High Court to block the release of CCTV footage from the trial.
McGregor hasn’t made any personal statements but instead reposted various messages on Monday, mostly from Gabriel Ernesto Rapisarda.
Rapisarda, an Italian entrepreneur whose firm distributes McGregor’s Forged Irish Stout in Italy, questioned in one post: “Why don’t they want to make public the video between Nikita and James in the elevator, many hours after the meeting between Nikita and Conor?”
Another of his posts stated: “Since my name has been used in the last few days, let’s clarify one thing, the video is a fundamental element of this shameful story, a video that clearly shows Nikita’s party continued long after the meeting with Conor.”
Nikita Hand speaking to the media after winning her case upon leaving the High Court
(Image: Collins Photos)
McGregor also shared an RTE news report screenshot about Nikita Hand’s court injunction request against publishing the court CCTV images. Last November, M.S. Hand, aged 35, was awarded nearly €250,000 in damages after alleging she was raped and choked by McGregor at a Dublin hotel in 2018, which he denied.
The jury concluded that James Lawrence, McGregor’s friend, did not assault M.S. Hand at the Beacon Hotel following McGregor’s departure.
On Monday, Mr Justice Alexander Owens allowed Ms Hand’s legal team to notify Mr McGregor and Mr Lawrence with a shortened notice regarding her upcoming injunction request this Thursday. Her barrister, Siún Leonowicz from Coleman Legal Services, mentioned that her client is seeking an injunction to stop the spread or release of CCTV footage shown during the trial.
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In a sworn statement, Ms Hand’s solicitor, David Coleman, noted that the Sunday Independent and the Sunday World earlier reported that Mr Rapisarda has hinted at a “imminent” release of the CCTV footage used in her claim’s trial. Mr Coleman expressed his concern that Mr Rapisarda suggested the footage’s release would promote Mr McGregor’s alcohol brand sales.
The solicitor believes any effort to publish the CCTV “is a contempt of court” with the sole aim to “undermine and discredit the verdict of the court and, in so doing, gain financially”. Given Mr McGregor’s alleged plans, Mr Coleman is eager for the court to address the injunction motion on Thursday to deliberate over Mr McGregor’s supposed “ongoing contempt”.
On the same day, the judge is also set to consider Mr McGregor’s reference to the court as a “kangaroo court” on social media.
A mother and hair colourist, Ms Hand, told the jury previously that she was assaulted by Mr McGregor in the Beacon Hotel after making it clear that she wasn’t consenting. She expressed feeling uncomfortable, mentioning mutual friends, and specified that she wouldn’t engage sexually while on her period.
Despite this, Mr McGregor, she claimed, “would not take no for an answer” and resorted to using a chokehold on her thrice, causing difficulty in breathing. Ms Hand said she eventually ceased resisting.
Mr McGregor has refuted these allegations, insisting that their encounter was “vigorous”, “athletic”, and entirely consensual.
Furthermore, Ms Hand initiated legal action against Mr Lawrence from Rafter’s Road, Drimnagh, who had asserted to the authorities in February 2019 that he and Ms Hand had consensual relations twice after Mr McGregor left the hotel. Ms Hand countered in her testimony, having no recollection of such events with Mr Lawrence and labelled his narrative as fabricated.
The court has directed Mr McGregor to cover most of the legal expenses from the case.
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