Conor McGregor has been accused of choking a woman three times during an alleged sexual assault, leaving the claimant fearing she would never see her young daughter again.
The UFC star is being sued for civil damages at the High Court in Dublin, Ireland by Nikita Ni Laimhin, also known as Nikita Hand. She accuses Mr McGregor and his friend, James Lawrence, of sexually assaulting her in the penthouse suite of the Beacon Hotel in December 2018.
Mr. McGregor and Mr. Lawrence deny the claims, saying what happened with Ms Ni Laimhin was consensual. Mr. McGregor’s lawyers have accused her of attempted “extortion”.
McGregor, 36, is accused of pinning Ms Ni Laimhin to a bed and choking her before raping her. Ms Ni Laimhin gave evidence to the court on Wednesday, when she told jurors she “froze and couldn’t move or breathe” during the alleged attack.
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She says she was left with purple and blue bruising on her hands and wrists, plus a scratch to her beast and tenderness to her neck after being put in a “choke-hold” by Mr. McGregor.
Ms. Ni Laimhin said: “[McGregor] raped me. He put his penis inside me.” Her counsel, Ray Boyland SC asked her to clarify where she alleges Mr McGregor put his penis, to which she replied: “In my vagina.”
The court heard that Mr. McGregor and Ms. Ni Laimhin knew each other from growing up in the Dublin area and occasionally contacted each other on social media.
The plaintiff and defendant were out separately in Dublin on Dec. 8, 2018, when she contacted the fighter and he picked up her and a friend in his car. They went to the hotel with Mr. Lawrence and a number of the MMA star’s security guards.
She alleges Mr. McGregor “came on to her” in the bedroom, but she told him she did not want to have sexual intercourse with him because she was on her period. The mother-of-one says after she rejected his advances, he held her to the bed and put his whole body weight on her, leaving her feeling like she “couldn’t breathe”.
“The only thing I could move was my head and I bit him and tried my best to get away from him,” she said. “I tried to shove him and wiggle and do whatever I could. I remember biting really hard and then his arms were around me and choking me.
McGregor denies the allegations (
Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
“I was trying to fight as much as I could. He put his arm around my neck and choked me three times. I just froze and I couldn’t move or breathe and I kept looking at the bedpost and thinking of my daughter. I just kept thinking I would die and not see my daughter again.”
Ms. Ni Laimhin says Mr. McGregor let go and she apologized as she felt she “did something wrong” and reassured him she “wouldn’t tell anyone” in the hope he would not hurt her again.
“Then he said that’s how he felt when he was in the Octagon and had to tap out three times. I thought it was such a weird thing to say,” she continued.
“I promised I wouldn’t tell anybody anything. Then I just let him do whatever he needed to do so I could survive. My mind was completely gone and I wasn’t myself anymore. He was really aggressive and pulling at my clothes and shoving my head down to do things and I kept pulling my head back.
“He was trying to push my head down to his penis but I pushed my head back. He was pulling my clothes down. He then raped me. I felt like it was going on for ages.”
Ms. Ni Laimhin, who broke down multiple times during her testimony, paused and told the court: “I’m finding it really hard. I am sorry,” before continuing: “Then it was over. It was done. When he was raping me I was completely numb. I didn’t feel anything. I completely froze.”
Ms. Ni Laimhin says she fell asleep on the bed after the alleged assault before waking to find Mr. McGregor, Mr. Lawrence and her friend leaving the room for drinks, only for Mr. Lawrence to return. She says she told Mr. Lawrence they “all turned a blind eye to what Conor was doing” after showing him her bruises.
She alleges he replied: “I can’t believe I was here and you were in that room while that was happening to you.”
Ms. Ni Laimhin was “shocked” to learn Mr. Lawrence claimed he had consensual sex with her in the hotel room, saying she had no recollection of that happening. She said: “I never had a problem with James. I just thought James was looking out for me and then he says things like that,” she told the court.
“I was just in complete shock. We were just there to have fun. I wasn’t there to have sex with anyone or anything like that. When we got to the hotel it was a different type of party. It wasn’t what we were expecting.”
Security camera footage was played to the court, which showed the plaintiff and defendants arriving at the hotel on the evening of Dec. 8 before leaving at around 6 p.m. the following day. Additional footage showed Ms. Ni Laimhin and Mr Lawrence returning to the hotel and leaving in a taxi shortly before 10.30 p.m. She said she had “no memory” of any of the footage played to the court.
The court heard on Wednesday that Ms. Ni Laimhin reported the alleged incident to police, but neither Mr. McGregor nor Mr. Lawrence were prosecuted by authorities due to “insufficient evidence,” and there was not a reasonable prospect of conviction.
Ms. Ni Laimhin was a hairdresser but has not been able to work since the incident, citing her mental health. Her relationship with her partner ended months after the incident and she has moved out of her home in Drimnagh. She said she could no longer afford counseling sessions after spending more than €4,000 ($4,328) on medical expenses as a result of the alleged attack.
The case continues.
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