LAWYERS FOR CONOR McGregor’s co-defendant James Lawrence have issued High Court proceedings against Nikita Hand following a civil case in which a jury cleared him of sexual assault.

In November last year, UFC star Conor McGregor was found civilly liable for sexually assaulting Nikita Hand at the Beacon Hotel on 9 December 2018, with the jury awarding her over €248,000 in damages.

While McGregor claimed the encounter was consensual, the jury ruled in Hand’s favour.

He later appealed, including on the basis of new evidence that was withdrawn, but the appeal was rejected.

The same civil jury cleared James Lawrence, a friend of McGregor, of any sexual assault against Ms Hand.

Lawrence had alleged that he had consensual sex with Hand twice at the Beacon Hotel on the same night and filed a joint defence with McGregor, using the same legal team as McGregor.

During the trial, Hand said she had no memory of these encounters and described them as “a made-up story,” adding that she would not have been able to consent if they occurred.

Confirming the new legal action today, Lawrence’s lawyers alleged that the case against him was “highly improper and vexatious,” leaving him exposed to media scrutiny and “substantial” legal costs.

“Mr Lawrence cooperated fully with Gardaí. The Director of Public Prosecutions, having thoroughly considered the investigation file and obtained the advice of counsel, determined there was no case against our client,” a statement from Mulholland Law said.

“Despite this, a frivolous legal action was issued unnecessarily against our client, exposing him to substantial cost implications and several years of media scrutiny and sensationalist tabloid publications undermining his good standing and character.”

During the civil High Court case in November, John Gordon, who represented Ms Hand, said that Lawrence came forward to gardaí after McGregor was interviewed over the sexual assault incident.

Gordon told the High Court jury that they knew Lawrence went to the same solicitors as McGregor, and that McGregor paid his legal fees, “so we may assume that Lawrence was in cahoots with McGregor from the word go.”.

“But even though he went to the solicitors within a couple of days, he didn’t actually turn up to give a statement until 18 January 2019. At that point, he drops in a little hand grenade that he had sex with my client as well.”

Gordon told the court in November that Lawrence described this in his statement to gardaí as “soft sex”, before asking: “Why would you throw in the word soft? You’d throw it in because you are now aware, you’ve seen all the photographs, that this lady had been badly beaten up and you throw in the word soft to distance yourself, but at the same time, confuse the narrative.”

After the jury cleared Lawrence of sexual assault, the trial judge refused to award him legal costs, describing it as “completely inappropriate,” noting that McGregor had already covered Lawrence’s fees.

Lawrence later appealed this decision, but the Court of Appeal dismissed the challenge in July.

Lawrence said today that he is pursuing the High Court action to protect his reputation and family.