A woman who was in the penthouse suite where Conor McGregor allegedly raped her colleague has told the High Court she "didn’t know anything had happened."
Danielle Kealey, a hairdresser, also said she did not notice any bruising on Nikita Hand after the alleged incident, or any bite mark on the MMA star’s face.
The first she knew of any issue, she said, was when Nikita contacted her the following day through Instagram.
"She told me she had been raped," she said. "I was surprised." She continued: "I told her I hadn’t seen or heard anything."
Ms. Kealey was called to give evidence for the defence in the civil case taken by 35-year-old mother-of-one against Mr. McGregor and his friend, James Lawrence.
She claims she was raped by both men on the afternoon of December 19, 2018, at the Beacon Hotel in Dublin. In a joint defence, the men have issued a blanket denial, and claim the sex they had with Ms. Hand was with her consent.
Ms. Kealey said she did not know Ms. Hand well. She explained that she worked for a Gerard Paul salon in Naas, Co Kildare, while Ms. Hand worked for its sister salon in Goatstown, Dublin.
They had met occasionally for training, she said, but had never attended a Christmas party together.
On this occasion, staff from both salons attended a Christmas party in Ayrfield, Dublin, on December 18, before continuing to drink at the Goat pub and then in the Goatstown salon.
November 13, 2024: Danielle Kealey at the High Court in Dublin. (RollingNews.ie)
She told Mr. McGregor’s barrister, Remy Farrell, that Ms. Hand was "chatting" with Mr. McGregor via Instagram.
"He was going to collect us. That was the next morning," she said, "He collected us from the salon and we drove around for a little while, then we went to the hotel."
She told the court she believed they had collected James Lawrence from the second house they visited along the way.
They entered the hotel through the underground car park, and the driver visited reception to collect a room key, she said.
Drinks, including vodka, were brought to the room, she recalled. She also thought that there were two drivers who were using a room opposite.
She was shown photographs of the hotel suite, which featured two rooms with an interconnecting door. One had a sofa bed, and the other a bed with a bath. She remained in the room with the sofa, she said.
Mr. Farrell asked: "Do you remember Ms. Hand and Mr. McGregor going into the other room?"
"I don’t know much about it," she replied. "I just know they went into the other room. I wasn’t in that room." Asked if she knew what was happening in that room, she replied: "No."
November 13, 2024: Nikita Hand at the High Court in Dublin. (RollingNews.ie)
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She added: "When she came out, everything was fine…No-one was in bad form or anything." No one was upset at any stage, she confirmed, and she said she did not notice any physical marks or injuries on anyone.
Questioned by Mr. Farrell, she confirmed that she had sex with Mr. Lawrence during her time in the hotel, and that he had used a condom. Ms. Kealey said she left the hotel around 6pm with Mr. McGregor. She said he had agreed to give her a lift home, as they both lived in Kildare.
Ms. Hand and Mr. Lawrence were "supposed to get in the other car and go home."
November 13, 2024: James Lawrence at the High Court in Dublin. (RollingNews.ie)
The following day, she said Ms. Hand sent her a message via Instagram in which she said she had been raped. Ms. Hand then called her from the Rotunda Hotel.
"She said she was raped. I said I did not see or hear anything," she told the court.
She confirmed that Ms. Hand asked her to delete the message. The case continues.
*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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