MMA star Conor McGregor and his associate James Lawrence have launched their final legal gambit. According to sources, they have filed applications with Ireland’s Supreme Court to challenge the civil r*pe case verdict that devastated the former UFC champion’s reputation last year.
The applications for leave to appeal were submitted yesterday through Dundalk-based Mulholland Law, marking a dramatic escalation in what has become one of Ireland’s most closely watched legal battles. The move represents the duo’s last chance to overturn a High Court jury’s decision that awarded Nikita Hand nearly €250,000 in damages.
In November, twelve jurors concluded that Ms Hand had been r*ped by McGregor at Dublin’s Beacon Hotel in 2018, rejecting his claims that their encounter was consensual. While Lawrence was cleared of r*pe charges, he was denied legal costs after the court determined his testimony supported McGregor’s version of events – an account the jury ultimately rejected.
Both men’s initial appeals to the Court of Appeal were comprehensively dismissed, but not before McGregor’s case took an extraordinary turn. His legal team had planned to introduce testimony from two new witnesses who claimed Ms Hand was assaulted by her then-partner shortly after the hotel incident, providing an alternative explanation for her extensive bruising.
However, those affidavits from Samantha O’Reilly and Stephen Cummins were abruptly withdrawn just as the appeal hearing was set to commence. Ms Hand dismissed their claims as fabrications, and both witnesses are now under criminal investigation by gardaà for alleged perjury.
Following the Court of Appeal setback in July, McGregor and Lawrence switched legal representation, bringing aboard Mulholland Law to spearhead their Supreme Court challenge. To succeed, their attorneys must convince the highest court that their case raises matters of exceptional public importance or that justice demands further review.
Solicitor Ciarán Mulholland expressed confidence in his clients’ prospects, stating they were “deeply disappointed” by the lower courts’ decisions. “Whilst [Supreme Court] proceedings remain in their infancy, we are confident that our client will be properly vindicated and the record set straight in due course,” he declared.
The legal strategy appears to center on constitutional grounds, with McGregor’s application focusing on his right to silence. During the original trial, jurors learned that the sports star responded “no comment” up to 150 times during police questioning – evidence his previous legal team had argued should be excluded as prejudicial.
Mulholland emphasized what he termed an “exceptional public interest in adjudicating on these applications favourably,” suggesting the case’s implications extend far beyond his clients’ personal circumstances.
“Whilst the decisions of the lower courts are respected, they are not accepted by our clients and will be challenged,” Mulholland stated.
