'I saw Nikita battered by then-partner' after Conor rape at hotel

Punched & possibly kicked on ground in heated row'

- BY PAUL NEILAN

LAWYERS for Conor McGregor say they have new evidence from a woman who claims to have witnessed Nikita Hand being punched and possibly kicked by her then partner hours after she returned home from the hotel where a civil jury found she was raped by the MMA star.

At the Court of Appeal yesterday, Remy Farrell SC, for Mr McGregor, said a couple have come forward with fresh evidence in the case, with the female claiming she saw Ms Hand's then partner assaulting Ms Hand at her home.

The court heard the woman has sworn an affidavit that she saw her neighbour Ms Hand being punched and, while she did not see her actually being kicked on the ground, by the body movement of the man she believes after he punched Ms Hand he then kicked her.

The court heard that the woman came forward during the case with her allegation after reading about the civil trial in the media.

Ray Boland SC, for Ms Hand, said the woman had averred that she had also sent Mr McGregor an Instagram message, but did not say when.

During the trial, Ms Hand told the court that she sustained bruising on her legs, back, neck, hands. "I was brutally raped and battered," she told the jury.

Mr Justice Seamus Noonan said the "extensive bruising" sustained by Ms Hand, who was photographed by gardaí the day after she attended the sexual assault treatment unit in the Rotunda Hospital, was a "very significant' part of the case.