Conor McGregor civil case: Masked men invaded victim's home, stabbed partner before trial, says legal team

The woman who successfully sued Conor McGregor for civil damages stemming from a 2018 sexual assault, Nikita Hand, was forced to move after her property was invaded in June by a group of masked men wearing balaclavas and wielding weapons, multiple Irish national outlets reported Friday.

The men also stabbed Hand's partner and broke the front windows of her house, according to the reports, which were revealed in the aftermath of proceedings at Dublin’s High Court.

Details of the attack were conveyed to the High Court by Hand’s legal team prior to the beginning of the civil court proceedings in the absence of the jury, the outlets reported. Justice Alexander Owens, who oversaw the civil court proceedings, ruled the evidence was irrelevant to the case and should not go before the jury.

McGregor was found liable for sexual assault Friday stemming from a December 2018 encounter in Dublin. Hand, 35, claimed she was raped by McGregor and another man, James Lawrence, in a penthouse suite at the Beacon Hotel. A High Court jury awarded damages of €248,603.60 ($259,149.36) to Hand, however because it was a civil case and not a criminal one, McGregor will face no criminal sanctions.

The jury found that Lawrence did not assault Hand.

During the civil court proceedings, the jury was told that Hand was making a claim for the cost of relocating to a different area in Dublin but were not told why the claim was being made. Per courtroom reports, the jury heard a brief reference to her relocation by Hand’s doctor, Frank Clarke, who told the court that she moved away from the area because of “something that happened”.

The jury also heard from valuer Patrick Sheehan, who valued the invaded Drimnagh property at €430,000. Sheehan was asked to price houses in “superior areas” of Dublin, which all came to between €500,000 to €700,000.

Before the jury was sworn in, Hand’s senior council, Ray Boland, told the judge that her legal team wanted to introduce an event that happened June 14, according to the reports. He described men with balaclavas invading Hand’s home and her partner sustaining stab wounds as he drove the the intruders out of their bedroom.

He also stated that Hand’s young daughter called 999 to alert the police during the invasion and that the intruders broke the front windows of the house before the Garda arrived.

Boland insisted that Hand’s legal team were “obviously not laying that at the feet of the defendants [McGregor] or saying they had anything to do with that,” but instead were claiming that it was not an untargeted attack and arose from supporters of McGregor.

Boland said they would have no difficulty telling the jury that they were not claiming that McGregor had anything to do with it, however Boland maintained that the attack was relevant to Hand’s claim that she had to move from Drimnagh and relevant to her state of anxiety.

Senior counsel for McGregor, Remy Farrell, said the home invasion was something that McGregor’s legal team knew nothing of before Boland’s statement and described it as an “extraordinary and unprecedented” claim for relocation costs.

McGregor continued to deny Hand's accusations of sexual assault in a statement Friday and announced intentions to appeal the verdict. In his courtroom testimony, the former UFC two-division champion described his encounter with Hand as consensual, "athletic,” “vigorous” and “prolonged."

McGregor, 36, last competed in the UFC in a July 2021 loss to Dustin Poirier, during which he suffered a broken leg. The UFC has yet to comment on McGregor being found liable for sexual assault.