Nikita Hand to sue her two former neighbours & Conor McGregor over withdrawn claims in failed appeal скачать в хорошем качестве

Nikita Hand to sue her two former neighbours & Conor McGregor over withdrawn claims in failed appeal

Nikita Hand has initiated new proceedings against Conor McGregor and two would-be witnesses whose evidence was dramatically withdrawn from the mixed martial arts fighter’s failed appeal. The mother of one is suing the former UFC champion as well as ­Samantha O’Reilly and Steven Cummins for damages, claiming they had been involved in “malicious abuse” of the processes of the Court of Appeal. The High Court action was filed yesterday, shortly after the Court of Appeal dismissed McGregor’s challenge to the outcome of a civil rape case Ms Hand won against him last year. A jury found in favour of Ms Hand, a hair colourist from Drimnagh in Dublin, last November and awarded her close to €250,000 in damages after she gave evidence that she was raped by ­McGregor in a hotel in 2018. McGregor quickly appealed and had planned to call Ms O’Reilly and Mr Cummins as witnesses offering an alternate theory as to how Ms Hand suffered extensive bruising. The couple are former neighbours of Ms Hand. Ms O’Reilly swore an affidavit suggesting Ms Hand was punched and kicked by her then partner just hours after she says she was raped by McGregor. The claim was dismissed as “lies” by Ms Hand, whose lawyers had planned to cross-examine the couple. But when McGregor’s appeal opened last month, his legal team dramatically dropped an application to introduce their evidence, claiming it would have difficulty persuading the three-judge court to admit it. The judges decided to refer papers in the case to the DPP following an application from Ms Hand’s counsel John Gordon SC, who alleged there had been perjury by Ms O’Reilly and Mr Cummins, as well as subornation of perjury by McGregor. None of the three have commented on the allegations made by the barrister. Now, on top of a potential criminal investigation, the three are set to face a civil action from Ms Hand. A plenary summons was filed yesterday by her solicitors Coleman Legal LLP. Learn more It is understood a statement of claim, providing further details about the lawsuit, will be filed in due course. In its ruling dismissing McGregor’s appeal, the Court of Appeal said the application to introduce the evidence of Ms O’Reilly and Mr Cummins had been dropped in “somewhat mysterious” circumstances and that no plausible reason had been given for this turn of events. Mr Justice Brian O’Moore said the abandonment of the application could be seen by the court only as an acknowledgment that Ms Hand was correct. He also said Ms Hand’s counsel had not been exaggerating when he said this “new evidence” had put Ms Hand “through the wringer”. Yesterday, the Court of Appeal dismissed McGregor’s legal challenge in its entirety after dismissing five grounds put forward. McGregor’s grounds of appeal ­included “no comment” responses given by him during his garda interviews being put to the jury, and the jury being asked to deliberate on an “assault” rather than “sexual assault”. Other arguments advanced were alleged failures by the trial judge during his charge to the jury, and the ability of McGregor’s counsel to carry out an effective cross-examination. On the argument around the issue paper, the judges said it was “simply unreal” to suggest that any juror could have been confused by the wording when the issue was “framed in a clear way” by the trial judge when he spoke of intentional and non-consensual contact. This ground of appeal was rejected. The court also said it was satisfied that the potential prejudice to McGregor in relation to his “no comment” answers being put to the jury was not established. “The real risk of an unfair trial has not been demonstrated,” Mr Justice O’Moore said in relation to this ground of appeal as he rejected it. Read the full story here: https://www.independent.ie/irish-news...