Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
LAST UPDATE | 4 Dec 2025
THE SUPREME COURT has decided it will not allow a further appeal by Conor McGregor against a civil jury finding that he sexually assaulted Nikita Hand.
The court also decided against granting McGregor’s friend James Lawrence a further appeal for his costs.
Hand has welcomed the decision, calling it “a victory for the justice system”.
In November last year, McGregor was deemed liable for sexually assaulting Nikita Hand in the Beacon Hotel on 9 December 2018, with the jury in the case awarding Hand over €248,000 in damages.
McGregor subsequently appealed the jury’s decision and sought a re-trial of the civil case against him. In July, the Court of Appeal dismissed the former MMA fighter’s appeal in its entirety.
The court upheld the jury’s award of damages to Hand and directed she was entitled to her legal costs against McGregor.
McGregor applied to the Supreme Court to appeal the finding in September.
His application largely centred on the High Court judge’s decision to allow the jury to hear about McGregor’s “no comment” answers to questions posed to him during a garda interview about Hand’s allegations.
Lawyers for McGregor had argued that this should not have been admitted. The Court of Appeal found that the trial judge told the jury repeatedly that they should not consider the evidence as supportive to Hand’s case.
In its determination, the three-judge Supreme Court said it was not satisfied that either man had raised ”any matter of general public importance” or that any further appeal would be in the interests of justice.
It said the Court of Appeal had applied “well-established principles as to whether the jury should have been discharged in the light of an erroneous ruling by the trial judge, and as to how the risk of an unfair trial may be avoided by the trial judge making necessary rulings and giving the appropriate directions to the jury”.
“The application of those principles to the particular facts of this case is not a matter of general public importance,” the court said.
The court also said it was not satisfied that a further appeal should be permitted “on the basis of the interests of justice”.
“The Court is satisfied that the applicant has had a fair hearing, notwithstanding the admission of the “no comment” evidence, followed by a full appeal to the Court of Appeal, and therefore he has had the benefit of his right of appeal.”
The Supreme Court also rejected an attempt by McGregor’s friend James Lawrence to appeal a decision not to award him his costs in the case.
In the original court case, Lawrence was found not to have assaulted Hand.
The Supreme Court said Lawrence “has not advanced any persuasive reasons” as to why the decision on costs “was erroneous, let alone unjust”.
“In the circumstances of this case it is difficult to see that the interests of justice are engaged, in circumstance where the applicant’s legal expenses were fully funded by the first defendant.
“In the circumstances the interests of justice would not be served by permitting a further appeal to this Court.”
In a statement welcoming the decision, Nikita Hand said the Irish civil justice system has allowed her voice to be heard after seven years of seeking justice, accountability and peace.
“It has afforded me vindication. This in itself is part of the healing process,” she said. “The public and private roads that I and my loved ones have travelled have been long and painful.
Today marks not a victory for me but for all of those who have been treated as I have. You are never alone on your journey, if you choose not to be. Help and support is there.
Hand said it was also a victory for the judges, the juries and officials “who work so hard to make our system honest and fair”.
She thanked the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre and all advocates who work for the healing of victims, saying “without you, life would have been different”.
She also thanked the team at the Sexual Assault Treatment Unit at the Rotunda and the first responders “who took such excellent care of me”, and her legal team.
“I say to all of us who have made or are about to make this difficult journey towards justice; Our voice is the most powerful thing we have, don’t be afraid to use it.”
The decision has also been welcomed by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, which said it means that the “acutely distressing and difficult” legal process has now concluded for the young woman.
“We are so pleased for Nikita Hand, who in the face of great adversity was unshakeable in her determination that there be consequences for the harm done to her,” CEO Rachel Morrogh said.
“There is no more road for this to run – the original judgement stands, and Nikita Hand’s truth is validated once again.
“We are proud to have supported her on this journey and send her our best wishes for continued health and healing as she rebuilds her life with her family and friends.”
Morrogh added that she hopes that other survivors take “courage and hope” from the case.
“Our message to them is: No matter what happened to you, when it was, who did it to you or how it happened, please reach out for support,” Morrogh said.
With reporting from Eoghan Dalton
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say