An injunction against MMA champion Conor McGregor is being sought by the solicitors for the lady who was sexually assaulted by him in a hotel room in Dublin in 2018 to prevent him from releasing or sharing CCTV evidence that was revealed in court, reports RTE.
In a legal case filed by Nikita Hand in November, a jury determined that Mr. McGregor had sexually assaulted her on December 9, 2018, at the Beacon Hotel in Dublin, and granted her damages of about €250,000.
The matter was scheduled to return to court on Thursday, when Mr. Justice Alexander Owens was expected to resolve the cost dispute and address Mr. McGregor’s social media remarks following the conclusion of the case, reports RTE.
But today, Ms. Hand’s attorney, Siún Leonowicz, informed Mr. Justice Owens that she was requesting authorisation to notify Mr. McGregor’s attorneys of Ms. Hand’s plan to get the injunction.
The case concerns CCTV evidence that was shown to the jury during the trial. It shows Ms. Hand, Mr. McGregor, and their companions James Lawrence and Danielle Kealy in the elevator and in the Beacon Hotel parking lot at different times on December 9, 2018.
On many instances, the jury watched the video, reports RTE.
According to documents filed in support of the injunction motion, Ms. Hand’s attorney, David Coleman, stated that on January 5, an Italian business friend of Mr. McGregor’s mentioned the “imminent publication” of the CCTV footage in articles that ran in the Sunday Independent and Sunday World newspapers.
He said that this was done to increase sales of an alcoholic beverage that Mr. McGregor owned and that colleague Gabriel Ernesto Rapisarda peddled in Italy, reports RTE.
The court was informed that this constituted a contempt of court and that the sole intent was to profit monetarily and to sabotage and discredit the jury’s decision.
Ms. Leonowicz was questioned by Mr. Justice Owens if she was referring to the “gentleman with the tattoo” that was depicted in the photos in the news stories that were sent with the application, reports RTE.
She concurred that it was and that Ms. Hand had requested the injunction to prevent Mr. McGregor from engaging in “abuse of the process of the court” by utilising the CCTV material that was used during the trial.
The subject will return to court on Thursday along with the other proceedings after the judge authorised notice of the injunction to be sent to Mr McGregor’s solicitors.
After hearing from Mr. McGregor’s solicitors, Mr. Justice Owens last month ruled that Mr. McGregor pay the costs of the civil action, but he also postponed the matter until January 16, reports RTE.
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