On Wednesday, during the civil trial against controversial fighter Conor McGregor, a woman accused him of strangling her before raping her inside a hotel in Ireland in 2018.
Nikita Hand told the High Court in Dublin that she thought she was going to die when Irish fighters allegedly pinned her to a bed and strangled her three times during an attack in her Dublin penthouse. British media reported.
A former hairdresser who filed a civil sexual assault lawsuit told jurors that she bit a mixed martial artist when she tried to fight him off.
“I was trying to fight as hard as I could. He put his arms around my neck and strangled me three times,” the woman said, visibly shaken and asking for several breaks to recover, British media reported. Reported.
“I just froze, couldn't move or breathe, staring at the bedpost and thinking about my daughter. I kept thinking I was going to die and never see her again. ”
Hand testified that she reassured her alleged abuser that she would not tell him what happened to avoid being hurt again, and that the mixed martial arts star admitted that he had strangled her in the Octagon. He added that he likened it to the experience of tapping out in a movie. BBC reported.
The mother of one is seeking monetary damages after being sexually assaulted by McGregor and another man, James Lawrence, on December 9, 2018.
A spokesperson for McGregor previously denied the charges, saying Irish police investigated the alleged assault and declined to press criminal charges in 2020, according to the Associated Press.
McGregor's lawyer argued that the sexual encounter was consensual and that McGregor was trying to blackmail her, the BBC reported.
Ms Hand, who filed the civil suit in 2021, told the court she was “disappointed and upset” that Irish police had not prosecuted both men, saying she had been treated unfairly because the alleged abusers were celebrities. he complained.
Hand's lawyer, Josh Gordon, said she and McGregor knew each other well as they grew up in the same area and had spoken on social media and were mutual friends before meeting at the Beacon Hotel on the night of the incident. .
Ms Hand told jurors that the assault left her with bruises on her hands and wrists, blood on her chest and tenderness on her neck, adding that she was unable to work due to mental health issues.
Dublin-born McGregor is one of the world's highest-paid sports stars and has been involved in a series of police cases over the years.
In 2019, he was fined by a Dublin court for punching an elderly man in a Dublin pub, and a video of the moment went viral.
He settled another lawsuit in 2019 in which he was accused of grabbing and smashing the cellphone of a person who was filming him outside a Miami hotel. In 2018, he avoided a prison sentence by throwing a metal trolley at a bus outside Brooklyn's Barclays Center after a press conference.
The civil lawsuit is expected to continue over the next two weeks.
