Former UFC champion Conor McGregor could face further punishment over his social media activity after losing civil rape case.
McGregor, 36, was ordered to pay over $1.25 million in costs and over $200,000 in damages after a High Court jury found he was liable for sexually assaulting Nikita Hand in a Dublin hotel in 2018. Hand did lose her civil case against McGregor’s friend James Lawrence, who was a co-defendant.
Hand sued McGregor and Lawrence, claiming they both raped her. Both men denied the allegations and said they each had consensual sex with her. On Thursday, Mr Justice Alexander Owens said it was perfectly obvious from the jury’s finding that they rejected the evidence of the two defendants, per RTE.
The judge also said that he had not decided what he was going to do about social media posts uploaded by McGregor in which he attacked the integrity of the jury. The judge said that he may institute proceedings for contempt of court, adding that McGregor was a very rich man who could well afford to pay a fine.
McGregor came under major scrutiny for a statement he posted after the conclusion of the eight-day trial. McGregor posted the following message on X: “Justice was served for James Lawrence, yes! Deplorable what they done. Nikita Hand, vicious liar! APPEAL!
“Two men falsely accused. One vindicated, the other soon to be! Congrats James Lawrence on absolute exoneration! Twice this heinous accusation was put to you and twice it was shown as FALSE! LIES!
“It is absolutely disgraceful what they put you through here. Disgraceful! I look forward to seeing you further vindicate yourself and lambast those responsible in court! We know what happened that night! Everyone present knows, yet it was ignored. Every single statement of persons present on the night was ignored. And they all disputed Nikita’s LIES!
“However James they did believe you but just in certain parts for some strange reason. And they apparently did not believe Danielle Kealy at all. Laughable! Also with the damages (60k and 188k, interesting choice of figures it seems they didn’t believe Nikita much either. How could they, her original story was she was gang raped by security and chased from the hotel on foot.
“Absolute nonsense. How these lies were accepted, I will never know. A court of feeling and opinion, brainwashed in to people via the mainstream media. Not of fact! The reporting in court a laughing stock to everyone present. As clear as day bias. This is not a court of hard evidence and truth.”
The ex-UFC lightweight and featherweight champion announced plans to appeal the decision. “People want to hear from me, I needed time,” McGregor wrote. “I know I made mistakes. Six years ago, I should have never responded to her outreaches. I should have shut the party down. I should never have stepped out on the woman I love the most in the world. That’s all on me.
“As much as I regret it, everything that happened that night was consensual and all the witnesses present swore to that under oath. I have instructed my legal team to appeal the decision.”
