Conor McGregor tells court he took cocaine and that rape accuser Nikita Hand was 'moaning with pleasure'

Conor McGregor has told a court he was “petrified” in a jail cell and worried about “dire consequences” if he didn't take advice from his lawyers.

McGregor (36) was into his second day being cross examined in the witness box in a High Court civil trial in which Nikita Hand (35) is suing him and James Lawrence for damages over alleged rape at the penthouse suite of the Beacon Hotel in Dublin on December 9 2018.

McGregor, who denies the allegations, also denied before the jury of four men and eight women that he intended to use James Lawrence as a ‘patsy’ and the “fall guy” in the case - and also confirmed that he had taken cocaine in the car with Ms Hand on route to the hotel.

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Later Mr Lawrence told the court that he “for a fact” had sex with Ms Hand’s friend Danielle Kealy three times in the space of an hour - while Ms Hand could be heard “enjoying” sex with McGregor in the other room.

He also told the court he felt “peer pressure” after Ms Hand repeatedly kept coming onto him afterwards - and he ultimately brought her back to the hotel room where he claimed he had sex with her twice.

Under cross examination from John Gordon SC for Ms Hand, McGregor confirmed that on advice from his lawyers, he gave a “no comment” answer to upwards of 150 questions from gardai during an interview with them on January 17, 2019.

The well known MMA fighter confirmed he had a prepared written statement for gardai but beyond that he gave no comment to garda questions after following his lawyer’s advice.

“I was beyond petrified. I said 'no comment', yes.

“I said my series of events and that is how I was advised, " McGregor stated, adding that he would have “loved to go to the top of the mountains and shout it from the rooftops.

He said the process of being arrested and interviewed by gardai was “alien” to him, that this was the first time this had ever happened in his life - but he had come here now to “speak my truth,” adding “these allegations against me are false.”

Mr McGregor told the court he was “scared,” that he was “in a jail cell" and added that there could be "dire consequences" if he didn’t take advice from experts.

But he said his story has “never changed” and alleged that Ms Hand’s story “has changed multiple times.”

The court heard that in his statement to gardai McGregor said the sex was “quite physical” and he remembered at “one point she had her legs on my shoulders.”

He claimed Ms Hand kept trying to wake him up afterwards and he could remember when they had sex “she was saying f*ck me, f*ck me, f*ck me.

“She was moaning with pleasure, I did ejaculate at least once,” McGregor said in his statement.

He further alleged that when they wanted to leave “Nikita wanted me to stay.”

He told officers he was “shocked this allegation has been made. It is completely false and I absolutely deny this allegation."

Having been shown photos of Ms Hand’s injuries by gardai, a “shocked” McGregor made a second statement in which he said “I am certain Nikita was at all times consenting to what we did together and believe she had sex with James Lawrence after I left the hotel.”

Under cross examination McGregor confirmed he spoke to James Lawrence the next day about newspaper coverage about a ‘sports star’ and that he did not believe at that stage it was about him.

Mr Gordon put it to the witness whether it was in his mind at this point that Mr Lawrence might be the patsy and that he might “take the fall” for him.

“Who ever could take the fall for this?” McGregor responded - and later confirmed he believed he had paid Lawrence’s legal fees.

McGregor further alleged that Mr Gordon’s client “had sexual relations with multiple people multiple times."

Mr Gordon put it to the witness that the evidence of Dr Kane was that a tampon was wedged high up in Ms Hand’s vagina and that it had to be removed with a forceps.

He said the evidence of Dr Charlotte Murphy he said found that his DNA was in “precisely the same location where Dr Kane found the tampon.”

McGregor told the court that what occurred between him and Ms Hand was in “broad daylight” and they would “not have had sex” if a tampon was present.

He stated that if a tampon was present that it did not get there from him.

“Not from me. Not with me,” he said.

Later he confirmed he took cocaine with Nikita Hand and Danielle Kealy in the car on the way to the Beacon Hotel - and stated the drug had been present in the car prior to him coming out of James Lawrence’s house.

“There was a small bag of cocaine present around the Krystle nightclub. Not much,” McGregor said

“There was cocaine present in the vehicle prior to that,” he added

McGregor also denied to Mr Gordon that he would have booked the hotel room in the Beacon with the goal of bringing women back there for sex.

He stated that generally he could book a room to go back and “refresh” and maybe have an afterparty - and stated that “if sex was to happen, if I was lucky enough.”

Mr Gordon asked McGregor why Ms Hand - who had stated she tried to fight and was afraid McGregor would kill her, was frightened.

McGregor’s legal counsel Remy Farrell SC interjected and stated that “this is absurd,” and Mr Gordon then rephrased his question to ask McGregor if Ms Hand was frightened.

McGregor told the court that he saw “no sign of distress or fear or anything other than elation, excitement and a food night was had.”

He stated that this was “clear as day from start to finish” and said everyone in the room was having a good night.

Later James Lawrence took to the witness box and told the court he had never taken cocaine and asserted that McGregor did not come out of his house with the drug.

"I did not take cocaine and I do not take cocaine ever in my life,” he told the court.

Lawrence said he went out to Krystal nightclub with McGregor until 6am in the morning of December 9 when he took a taxi home and went to bed.

He told the court his next memory is being woken by McGregor at around 11 in the morning and being asked if he wanted to come out with him.

He said he told McGregor he did not want to go out and that he saw him off - before calling him back when he realised a phone had been left on the ground outside.

McGregor returned, he said - and beckoned him to the car where he saw two women and was once again asked to come out with him.

Mr Lawrence said he accepted, got in the car and could recall Ms Hand kicking him from the back seat.

He claimed McGregor and Ms Hand were "flirtatious" and they were "coming onto each other" in the car - and that this continued when they got to the Beacon.

He said drink was brought into the room by security and that everyone was “upbeat, laughing and joking.”

"We all had drinks. I'm not much of a drinker, I poured myself a drink and was having a sup of that. We all started off in the sitting room basically. Having a laugh, listening to Christmas songs," Mr Lawrence claimed

He told the court that Mr McGregor walked into the room and "Nikita followed him,” and he stated that he can “100 per cent remember” that the door remained open the entire night.

Mr Lawrence told the court he could hear “sex noises” coming from the room and could hear “Nikita moaning.”

He claimed Ms Kealey turned to him and said Ms Hand was going to regret that - and he had told her "they're old enough and bold enough to do what they want".

He further claimed Ms Kealy told him “that won't be happening between us,” but that eventually, after obtaining condoms from a security guard - they had sex three times.

He claimed at one stage Ms Hand called him a “dirty bastard” after coming into the room while he was having sex with Ms Kealy.

He also claimed that he could see from the bathroom Ms Hand having sex with McGregor for a second time.

He said in the meantime he had sex with Danielle Kealy three times and stated he could “remember this for a fact because I used all three condoms."

Later Mr Lawrence said Ms Hand became flirtatious with him in the underground car park - “smacking me on the bum, trying to kiss me, stuff like that.”

Mr Lawrence said he was not interested and that he had “no drive” at this point because he had been with her friend three times.

He said Ms Hand continued to kiss him, was “pulling out of me” and that when he was in the presence of a security guard he felt “peer pressure” and ultimately took her back to the hotel room.

He told the court he had sex with Ms Hand on the same sofa bed he had sex with Ms Kealy on and that he did not notice any marks on her.

After that he said he could see Ms Hand becoming upset and starting to tear up and he wondered why she would be crying after just having sex.

“It was getting to me. She was looking down at her arm. I'm not sure if it was the arm or leg but she had a bruise on one of them. She asked me what she was going to tell her boyfriend,” Mr Lawrence told the court.

Asked by Counsel if he recalls Ms Hand stating to him that they had all turned a blind eye to what McGregor does to women, Mr Lawrence said she did not.

"I would stand up to my own father, brother or anyone that done that. I come from a family of women," Mr Lawrence responded.

He further claimed that Ms Hand was upset for a short period but then went back to laughing, joking and kissing him.

He claimed that when they got down to the hotel lobby Ms Hand linked arms with him and said “look we look like a couple.”

Mr Lawrence said he told Ms Hand he had a girlfriend and that he pulled his arm away from her.

He told the court they took a taxi together, that he got dropped off at his friends house in Crumlin - and that he gave Ms Hand €50 for the taxi fare.

Mr Lawrence was asked if he knew what a patsy was - and it was explained to him that it means a fall guy.

Mr Lawrence said he was not the fall guy and said: "What man would put themselves up for the rape of a woman?"

Under cross examination from John Gordon SC for Ms Hand, Mr Lawrence accepted he only became a suspect when he put himself “directly in the firing line” by telling gardai he had sex with her.

Mr Lawrence responded by saying what he had said was “the truth.”

He described the sex he had with Ms Hand as “soft sex which we both enjoyed” and told gardai he was not responsible for the marks he was shown by them.

Lawrence told the court he saw none of the bruises on Ms Hand when he had sex with her and said he did not know how she got them.

"Like I said, she didn't get them from me and as far as I know she didn't get them from Conor."

He also told the court that Ms Hand’s claim that McGregor came out of his house with the bag of cocaine is "another one of her lies". "I know it's a lie. I am telling her straight to her face, it's a lie.

"I never gave anything, it didn't come from my house. No cocaine came from my house," he said.

Referring to evidence of a security guard, Mr Gordon said the timing of him coming in and out of the room meant Mr Lawrence was telling the jury he had sex with Ms Kealy in an hour.

"That's a fact. I don't know the time difference but it was definitely three times," Mr Lawrence responded.

Mr Gordon puts it to Mr Lawrence that it was Ms Kealey's evidence that she had sex with Mr Lawrence once - to which he responded by saying she had also previously claimed not to have had sex with him.

"Can you find out when I lied?" he added.

Mr Gordon said the security guard had stated that every time he came into the room everyone in it was fully dressed.

He asked therefore did Mr Lawrence and Ms Kealy get dressed each time after they had sex.

Mr Lawrence responded by saying he wasn’t “walking around in the nip,” and that they would have gotten dressed and undressed each time.

He also confirmed that he ejaculated after all three sexual encounters within that hour.

Mr Gordon said Ms Hand had described Mr Lawrence as being nice to her and on her side.

"I thought the same thing. I thought she was a nice person too. I trusted her too,” Mr Lawrence responded.

"I also thought she was a nice person as well but that turned out to be wrong.”

Mr Gordon put it to the witness that the marks on Ms Hand came from McGregor who “wasn’t taking no for an answer.”

Mr Lawrence responded by saying he was only four feet away from Ms Hand at all times and he wouldn’t have allowed that to happen.

"I wouldn't let any man do anything to a woman," he said . "I have six sisters, eight aunties.

"I wouldn't stand up for any man doing anything like that to a woman."

He further claimed it was Ms Hand who came on to him - and when asked if he saw blood on the sheets he said he saw what he thought was red sauce from burgers they had been eating.

"One drip that I thought came from the burgers. She (Ms Hand) instantly knew what I was thinking and said that's not from me," Mr Lawrence said.

The trial continues on Friday.

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