Conor McGregor is still in breach of a High Court order that he return CCTV footage showing himself and the woman who accused him of rape in a hotel lift, a judge has heard.
He also faces being cross-examined over his sworn statement that he has deleted the footage, and about his relationship with an Italian business partner who had also indicated that the footage would be released.
A barrister for Nikita Hand, who won her High Court claim that she was assaulted by Conor McGregor, said there were "significant concerns" about McGregor’s "bona fides."
Ms. Hand had asked the court to stop the MMA fighter from publishing the footage seen by the jurors during the trial.
Damages
Late last year, Hand was awarded almost a quarter of a million euro in damages by a civil jury, who found she had been assaulted by McGregor in the penthouse of the Beacon Hotel in Dublin.
During the high-profile case, the jurors had seen CCTV evidence showing Ms. Hand, McGregor, and their friends Danielle Kealy and James Lawrence in the hotel car park and lift on the day the assault took place, December 9, 2018.
During Ms. Hand’s cross-examination, McGregor’s barrister had suggested that the CCTV evidence showed that she was interested in a "romantic entanglement."
She replied: "I don’t remember what we were doing or saying. It is very hard to watch…I see a very vulnerable woman, a drunk woman who did not know what she was doing, who should have been looked after, who should have been taken home in that state."
Instead, she said she had been brutally raped and battered.
Nikita Hand at the High Court in Dublin in November 2024. (RollingNews.ie)
CCTV Concerns
Judge Alexander Owens was told last month that Ms. Hand, a mother-of-one, was worried that McGregor and his business partner intended to release the footage, in a bid to "change the public’s view" and boost sales of McGregor’s Italian stout.
Her solicitor, David Coleman, had said that any attempt to release the CCTV footage was a contempt of court, in circumstances where McGregor’s "only purpose" was "to undermine and discredit the verdict of the court and, in doing so, gain financially."
Judge Owens duly ordered McGregor to make a sworn statement, detailing the steps he has taken to return the footage to his solicitor or delete it, and to have it sent back by anyone he may have forwarded it to, such as Gabriel Ernesto Rapisarda, McGregor’s Italian stout distributor.
The court heard that McGregor has filed two sworn statements. In the first, he is understood to have said he had deleted the footage, while in the second, the judge said he "explains his role in relation to the Italian gentleman."
Ms. Hand’s barrister, John Gordon SC, said: "We need some time to reply to the affidavits, and to consider bringing an application to cross examine the deponent [McGregor]."
He continued: "Our objection is that he has not complied with one aspect of the court order, and he is still in breach.
"The affidavit he put in is entirely inadequate. Thirdly, the affidavit was sworn last Friday but only shared with us yesterday.
"This raises significant concerns about his bona fides."
He said it appeared to be necessary to cross-examine McGregor about what he had said.
Adjournment
Remy Farrell SC, for McGregor, agreed to an adjournment to allow Ms. Hand’s legal team to prepare their response in full.
The case will next be mentioned before Judge Owens on March 6.
When the case was before the court last month, it was said that stories in two Sunday newspapers on January 5 reported that Mr. Rapisarda had "indicated the imminent publication of the CCTV used in the trial of the proceedings," through posts on Instagram.
Mr. Rapisarda runs the Gabriel & Spirits company which is helping to distribute McGregor’s stout in Italy, and describes himself as a celebrity agent and professional brand builder.
On his Instagram account, Mr. Rapisarda defended the fighter after a woman asked how the court case had affected sales.
He said that despite the case, sales of the stout had "doubled" in Italy in December. He claimed sales would further increase after the CCTV evidence from the McGregor case was released this month to show how Ms. Hand behaved both before and after the alleged assault in the Beacon Hotel.
Ms. Hand’s solicitor said the CCTV footage had been obtained from the gardaí purely for use in the litigation.
Mr. Coleman said McGregor appeared to have already shown his partner, Dee Devlin, the footage, and said that Ms. Devlin had "inappropriately" commented on its content on Instagram.
Dee Devlin's Instagram story.
In a post on Instagram, Ms. Devlin said she looked forward to the day "the world" would see the "carry on" of Ms. Hand in the footage.
Dee Devlin's Instagram story.
Mr. Coleman said it was clear that McGregor now intended to "disseminate selected pieces of evidence given at the trial."
He added that McGregor has "persisted in attempting to disparage the court since the jury the verdict of the jury was delivered."
Last month, Judge Owens ruled that McGregor must pay the lion’s share of an estimated €1.5m in legal costs incurred during the civil trial.
He also warned that McGregor could be fined for contempt, following an angry rant on social media in which he branded it a "kangaroo court."
During the civil trial, the jurors had heard that McGregor "would not take no for an answer" and that he had put Ms. Hand in a chokehold three times, leaving her struggling to breathe.
McGregor denied rape and contended that they had "vigorous," "athletic," and "fully consensual" sex.
Ms. Hand also had sued Mr. Lawrence, of Rafter’s Road, Drimnagh, after he gave a statement to gardaí in February 2019 alleging he had consensual sex twice with her following Mr McGregor’s departure from the hotel.
Ms. Hand said in evidence she had no memory of having sex with Mr. Lawrence and described his account as a "made-up story." Her claim against him was dismissed.
*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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