Nikita Hand files new civil case against Conor McGregor and her former neighbours

Nikita Hand has filed a new civil case against Conor McGregor, as well as her former neighbours Samantha O'Reilly and Steven Cummins, who were due to be witnesses in McGregor's failed appeal yesterday.

Hand ia alleging that McGregor, O'Reilly and Cummins engaged in malicious abuse of the process of the court.

Yesterday, McGregor lost his appeal against a High Court jury finding that he raped Hand in a Dublin hotel in December of 2018.

McGregor had attempted to introduce new evidence for his appeal in the form of affidavits from O'Reilly and Cummins. The pair said they were former neighbours of Hand and claimed they witnessed Hand's then partner Stephen Redmond attacking her after she had been out with McGregor on the same date of the rape.

McGregor said their testimony would provide an alternative explanation for bruising on Hand's body which he claimed he did not cause.

In her own affidavit, Hand described the claims by O'Reilly and Cummins as "lies" and said that Redmond never assaulted her at any point in their relationship. Hand's lawyers said the introduction of the evidence was an attempt to undermine their client's credibility.

The Court of Appeal said the application to introduce the new evidence was abandoned in "somewhat mysterious" circumstances.

Concerns of potential perjury were raised by Hand’s legal team over the withdrawal of evidence, and court has referred the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions to investigate possible perjury.

Based on McGregor’s previous grounds of appeal, senior judges in the court rejected all grounds of appeal from McGregor and dismissed it in its entirety.

Neither McGregor, O'Reilly nor Cummins appeared in court.

The court said Hand was entirely vindicated and that McGregor's behaviour — reportedly, he had publicly questioned the correctness of the jury’s verdict and Hand’s testimony — was disapproved of by the court.

Judge Brian O’Moore said that, given the court's ruling, the abandonment of the application for new evidence would be interpreted by the court as acknowledgement that Hand was correct.