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Topics: Conor McGregor, UFC, MMA
Jack Kenmare
Topics: Conor McGregor, UFC, MMA
Conor McGregor arrived at the High Court in Dublin on Tuesday ahead of a civil lawsuit over an alleged sexual assault in 2018.
The Irish MMA fighter, 36, was present in court as judge Justice Alexander Owens told the jury a brief detail of the case.
Mr Justice Owens said that mother-of-one Nikita Ni Laimhin, a hairdresser from Drimnagh, is suing McGregor and another man, James Lawrence, for damages.
He said her allegations centre around the claim that she was sexually assaulted and raped by both defendants.
The allegations are denied by both men.
Mr Justice Owens said: "Essentially the allegation in the statement of claim is Mr McGregor sexually assaulted Ms Ni Laimhin and in effect raped her on December 9, 2018. Mr Lawrence did likewise."
He also told the jury panel that it was not a criminal process, but a civil case of assault.
The sexual assault is alleged to have occurred after McGregor brought Ms Ni Laimhín to a penthouse suite in the Beacon Hotel in Dublin following a Christmas party on December 8.
John Gordon SC for Ms Ni Laimhin said that the pair were known to each other as they were in the same age group, from the same area and had mutual friends. They had also been in touch through social media.
Ms Ni Laimhin claims to have been raped by both men at the hotel on December 9, and was pinned down on a bed by McGregor after she refused to perform a sex act on him.
Mr Gordon told the court that the alleged assault by McGregor left her with extensive bruises and abrasions, including "black and blue" wrists.
“She will tell you that she was nervous, that she tried to push him off her but she was completely unable to do so,” he continued.
“You will see pictures of her hands and wrists which are black and blue. You will see that her left breast has a bloodied scratch. The scratch is there because she was wearing a watch and had her hands up to protect herself. She was pressed down on and the watch scarred her breast.
“Mr McGregor then flips her over and puts her arm in a lock and draws her up by the neck. She can’t breathe. And he does it again. By the third time he does it, she gives up. She can’t resist this any more. In the course of this he says: ‘Now you know what it was like to be in the Octagon when I went down three times'."
Gordon added: “She was at this point completely terrified. She subjected herself to what was about to happen, which was a violent and vicious assault.”
The court heard she later presented at the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit of the Rotunda Hospital, “an absolute wreck, constantly weeping, and in pain”.
A jury of four men and eight women was sworn in on Tuesday morning to hear the case, which is expected to last two weeks.