Conor McGregor ‘took cocaine and raped woman’ in hotel penthouse, court hears

McGregor accused of sexually assaulting woman in 2018

MMA fighter Conor McGregor leaves the High Court in Dublin, where he is appearing for a personal injury case against him (Niall Carson/PA)

Conor McGregor allegedly pinned down and raped a woman in a Dublin hotel while high on cocaine, the city’s High Court has been told.

Mr McGregor and another man have been accused of sexually assaulting an Irish hairdresser in December 2018 after picking her up from a Christmas party.

However, Mr McGregor’s lawyers insist the alleged victim is attempting extortion.

The fighter, nicknamed “Notorious”, was in court to hear Justice Alexander Owens tell the jury the alleged victim was “in effect raped” by Mr McGregor and his friend James Lawrence on 9 December 2018.

John Gordon SC for the woman in question said that the pair were known to each other. They were in the same age group, from the same area, had mutual friends and had been in contact at various times through social media.

The mixed martial arts fighter is facing a damages claim (PA Wire)

At the time, she lived in a Dublin suburb with her partner and child. She had been out with friends on the night of the alleged incident.

Mr Gordon said that Mr McGregor was “enormously famous” and was considered a “hero” around the area. He said that his client was “no angel” and “doesn’t pretend to be an angel”.

On the night, she had been drinking and had taken some cocaine. The court also heard that she suffered from depression and had been on anti-depressants.

The court was told that later on in the night, the alleged victim and two of her friends returned to her salon where they continued to party and at some point, she contacted Mr McGregor.

Mr McGregor collected her and her friend in his car, and the woman in question understood they were to be taken to another party.

He sat in the backseat with the two women, while his driver took them around housing estates and beeped the horn.

They later went to the home of Mr Lawrence, who joined them in the car. The court was told that Mr McGregor had a bag of cocaine, which was shared between Mr McGregor, the complainant and her friend.

The group, which included the complainant, Mr McGregor as well as his security team and others, then went to a penthouse suite in the Beacon Hotel in Dublin.

The court was told that they were all drinking and laughing. At one point, Mr McGregor went into a bedroom and beckoned the woman in question to join him.

The court was told that Mr McGregor “came on to her”, but she did not want to have sexual intercourse with him as she was on her period.

Mr Gordon told the court that she alleged that Mr McGregor pinned her down on the bed and that she was no physical match for him.

“She will tell you that she was nervous, that she tried to push him off her but she was completely unable to do so,” he added.

“You will see pictures of her hands and wrists which are black and blue. You will see that her left breast has a bloodied scratch. The scratch is there because she was wearing a watch and had her hands up to protect herself. She was pressed down on and the watch scarred her breast.

“Mr McGregor then flips her over and puts her arm in a lock and draws her up by the neck. She can’t breathe. And he does it again.

“By the third time he does it, she gives up. She can’t resist this any more. In the course of this, he says: ‘Now you know what it was like to be in the Octagon when I went down three times.’

“She was at this point completely terrified. She subjected herself to what was about to happen, which was a violent and vicious assault.”

It is alleged later that she had sex with Mr Lawrence, but Mr Gordon said she has no recollection of such an event ever happening.

She later went home and visited her mother, who called 999. The alleged victim was taken to hospital in an ambulance. The court was told that she was shaking and in pain while being transferred to hospital.

Mr Gordon said: “In the face of this, Mr McGregor will tell you that this was a consensual encounter, that they were just having fun and a bit of rough sex. That’s his answer.

“What did I say about common sense? Don’t be fooled into leaving it behind in this [court] room.

“What he is saying is that she gave him a licence to carry out what has to have been a brutal assault on her body.”

The defence claimed in the evidence booklet that the alleged victim had several opportunities to complain to people about how she was treated but did not.

It will also claim that she is engaged in an attempt at extortion, the court heard.

Mr Gordon said that his client is being called a “gold digger and a fraud”, adding: “Brave. But where is the bravery in this? Bravery ultimately sits with my client.

“Because she pursued her mission for vindication and compensation to which she is entitled. And for these defendants to breezily and cheekily dispose of her claim is something you will consider in due course.”

Earlier, the jury was sworn in at the High Court and told that they are judges of fact as to what happened and will have to draw a conclusion and it will be based on their decision.

The case is expected to last around two weeks.