Conor McGregor has lost his appeal against a civil jury's ruling in favour of Nikita Hand, who accused him of rape. The appeal was dismissed on all five grounds presented. Ms Hand, 35, successfully sued McGregor in a civil court regarding an incident in December 2018, where she alleged he had "brutally raped and battered" her in a penthouse at a south Dublin hotel.

The jury found McGregor, who claimed the encounter was consensual, civilly liable for assault. As a result, Ms Hand was awarded €248,603.60 in damages, and McGregor was ordered to pay approximately €1.3 million in legal costs following the trial in November.

In his appeal, McGregor cited several grounds, including new evidence from a former neighbour of Ms Hand, who claimed to have witnessed a physical altercation between Ms Hand and her then-partner around the time of the incident. However, McGregor's legal team withdrew this ground earlier this month, stating they would no longer rely on that material.

The appeal continued on other grounds, primarily concerning the admissibility of McGregor's "no comment" responses to the police during the investigation.

Additionally, McGregor's co-defendant, James Lawrence, also faced a setback as his appeal against the trial judge's decision not to award him legal costs was dismissed. The jury had found that Lawrence did not assault Ms Hand, yet the trial judge ruled that she would not be responsible for his costs.

On Thursday, the three-judge panel, comprising Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, Mr Justice Brian O'Moore, and Mr Justice Patrick MacGrath, unanimously dismissed both appeals. Mr Justice O'Moore summarised the grounds for appeal and stated, "I therefore dismiss the appeal in its entirety."

Ms Hand was present in court for the judgment, while neither McGregor nor Lawrence attended.