Irish mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Conor McGregor “in effect raped” a woman who suffered a “violent and vicious assault” at his hands, jurors at Dublin’s High Court have been told.
The woman is claiming civil damages against the Irish fighter and another man, James Lawrence, alleging they sexually assaulted her in December 2018.
As a jury was sworn in on Tuesday, Justice Alexander Owens told them it is alleged that the men had “in effect raped her”.
But lawyers for the fighter, nicknamed “notorious”, accused her of attempted “extortion”.
McGregor and the plaintiff knew each other, had mutual friends, and had occasionally been in contact on social media, John Gordon SC, the woman’s lawyer, said.
She “was no angel”, Mr Gordon said, and after going out with friends in the city on the night of the alleged incident, she contacted the fighter who picked up her and a friend in his car.
The trio shared a bag of cocaine as his driver took them around housing estates before they went to the home of Mr Lawrence, who joined them in the car and drove to the Beacon Hotel.
The court was told that the group, who took a penthouse suite, were all drinking and laughing.
At one point, the MMA star went into a bedroom and beckoned the woman to join him.
Victim alleges McGregor pinned her to bed
The court was told that 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 McGregor pinned her down on the bed and that she was “completely unable” to push him off.
He said jurors 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 anymore. In the course of this, he says: ‘Now you know what it was like to be in [MMA fighting venue] 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.
Woman taken to hospital in ambulance
After going home and visiting her mother, who called 999, the woman 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.”
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The defence claimed in the evidence booklet that she had several opportunities to complain to people about how she was treated but did not.
She is engaged in an attempt at extortion, the court heard. McGregor and Mr Lawrence deny any wrongdoing.
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Earlier, Justice Owens advised jurors they should judge the case on the facts and not become their own “private detective” by doing independent research.
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He warned the jurors not to discuss the case with their families when they return home in the evenings, and not to ask their opinions on evidence.
McGregor, wearing a white shirt and a blue suit, was in court as the case, which is expected to last around two weeks, began.
