Woman who alleges she was raped by Conor McGregor thought she was "going to die," court hears
· IrishCentralA woman who alleges she was raped by mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor has claimed she froze, and thought she was "going to die" as he grabbed her neck in a chokehold.
Nikita Hand told the High Court that the more she struggled, the more Mr. McGregor seemed to like it.
"I just let him do whatever he decided to do after that, so I could survive," she said.
Ms. Hand, a 35-year-old hair colourist from Drimnagh in Dublin, wiped away tears and was visibly shaking as she gave evidence on the second day of her civil case against Mr. McGregor and his friend, James Lawrence, of Rafters Road, Drimnagh.
She has sued both men, alleging they each raped her two times at a cocaine and drink-fuelled party at the Beacon Hotel in Dublin, in December 2018.
Both have issued a blanket denial to her allegations, and have suggested that her claim for damages is "tantamount to extortion," the court has heard.
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Ms. Hand told her barrister, Ray Boland, "He pinned me down to the bed and pressed his whole body down on top of me and I couldn’t breathe. I had my two arms up.
"I couldn’t move, I couldn’t breathe. The more I tried to get away or struggle the more he liked it."
She asked for a break, explaining: "I’m finding this very hard, I’m sorry."
When the jury returned, she said: "The only thing I could move was my head, so my only defence was to try and bite."
Asked if she did bite him, she replied: "I did, yeah. I don’t know exactly where, but I know he didn’t like it so he flipped me around and had me by the neck and tried to choke me."
Ms. Hand requested a second break, saying: "I can’t deal with this, it’s really difficult, I’m sorry."
She later continued: "I was standing by the bed. Conor was coming on to me. I tried to talk to him, that I wasn’t there for the sex."
She said she told him that she knew his partner Dee Devlin and her family, as her boyfriend was friends with Dee’s brother.
"He then pinned me to the bed…I bit him and then I tried to get away from him," she said.
"I was shoving and trying to wriggle my way out and do whatever I could. I remember biting him really hard. He put his arm around my neck, choking me. He was behind me. I was shoving and trying to fight as much as I could.
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"I couldn't breathe"
"..I just froze and I couldn’t move and I couldn’t breathe. I just kept looking at the bedposts and thinking about my daughter and that I was going to die.
"I kept thinking I was going to die and never going to see my daughter again.
"The first choke hold was not long, the second was not long, the third one he held it longer. It was more stronger. I just completely thought I was going to die.
"He let me go. I remember saying sorry to him. I kept saying, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I felt like I had done something wrong. I kept saying sorry to reassure him I wouldn’t tell anyone., so he wouldn’t hurt me again.
"Then he said, 'That’s how it felt in the octagon, and I had to tap myself out three times.'
"I just thought, that’s a weird thing to say."
Ms. Hand told the court: "I promised him that I wouldn’t tell anyone anything.
"I just let him do whatever he decided to do after that, so I could survive. My mind was completely gone and I wasn’t myself any more."
She continued: "He was just really aggressive with me, pulling my clothes and shoving my head down for me to do things, and pulling my head back. My clothes were on, he was dragging at my clothes.
"He was trying to push my head down to his penis and I kept pushing myself away."
She said Mr McGregor then raped her.
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"Completely numb"
"It felt like it went on for ages," she said. "And then it was over. It was done."
She added: "When he was raping me, I didn’t feel anything. I was completely numb…I completely froze."
She had bruising all over her body after the incident, she told the court, and a scrape across her breast caused by her gold Michael Kors watch, which was handed to the jury as an exhibit.
However, she said that when she started to put her clothes back on, Mr. McGregor told her to lie down with him, and that she fell asleep.
She woke up in a panic, she recalled, and got her mobile phone to check the time, as her watch was not working.
She sent a text message to her partner, explaining: "I was worried because I’d fallen asleep and obviously wasn’t keeping in contact.
"I said I was having a great time, I just didn’t want to worry him."
Ms. Hand continued: "I was confused. When I woke up, everyone was leaving…I said why is everyone leaving, let’s have a drink."
She said she remembered Mr. McGregor and her friend leaving in one car, and herself and James Lawrence remaining at the hotel.
She said she broke down, as she looked at her bruised arms, adding: "Things were coming back to me."
She asked Mr. Lawrence how he and the others could "turn a blind eye" to what Mr. McGregor had done.
"I remember he said, 'I can’t believe I was here when that was happening to you.'"
The case continues before Judge Alexander Owens and a jury of four men and eight women.
*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.