Conor McGregor rape accuser 'was very bruised', court told

A paramedic who examined a woman who claims she was raped by MMA fighter Conor McGregor in a Dublin hotel has told a court she had not seen such bruising on a patient in a long time.

Eithne Scully was giving evidence in the second week of a civil action by Nikita Hand against Mr McGregor and another man, James Lawrence.

Mr McGregor and Mr Lawrence of Rafter's Road, Drimnagh, Dublin, deny Ms Hand’s claims.

In a Republic of Ireland civil action - as opposed to a criminal case - neither the complainant nor the two accused men are entitled to automatic anonymity during the court proceedings.

Ms Scully said Ms Hand was withdrawn, agitated and upset when she first saw her in the bedroom of a house in Drimnagh on 10 December 2018.

She said Ms Hand had a cut on her chin and some bruising around her lower neck.

She also had bruising on her chest, legs, buttocks, thighs and lower leg.

Ms Scully said Ms Hand was "very bruised". She said in her experience: "I haven’t seen someone so bruised, with that intensity of bruising".

She said Ms Hand’s chief concern was about a tampon pushed up too far inside her.

Ms Scully said she had asked Ms Hand for permission to remove her pyjama bottoms to examine her bruising in the ambulance as she had to establish the extent of her injuries.

She also said Ms Hand had told her she had been grabbed around the neck and said something about fighting somebody off and that there was a threat made to her. She said Ms Hand did not name her attacker.

Her colleague, paramedic Neil Dempsey, told the court he was called to a house in Drimnagh on 10 December 2018 and found Ms Hand in a distressed state in an upstairs bedroom.

He said she had visible marks on her neck and breast.

He said she told paramedics she had been sexually assaulted and they decided to take her to a sexual assault treatment unit.

The jury was shown footage from inside the ambulance as Ms Hand was being attended to by Mr Dempsey and Ms Scully.

The footage shows Ms Scully examining visible bruising on Ms Hand’s thighs and knee.

Later in the footage, Ms Hand could be seen moving off the trolley and sitting up.

Mr Dempsey said she became more distressed during the journey to the hospital and was having a panic attack.

She also appeared to be vomiting at one point.

During cross-examination by defence counsel Remy Farrell, Mr Dempsey agreed that in his statement to gardaí (Irish police) four days afterwards, he said: "I asked her what happened; she said she could hardly remember, but she was raped."

He also agreed that in his statement he told gardaí that on a few occasions in the hospital she told her mother, "Mam, please don’t say anything".

GP Emma Quinn said Ms Hand had visited her on 19 December 2018 complaining of neck pain and what she felt was a lump in her neck.

She said her complaints were consistent with what she had told her about being restrained around the neck and were consistent with internal bruising.

Psychiatrist Ann Leader told the court that she had a long discussion with Ms Hand in December 2020 and diagnosed her with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

She said Ms Hand came across as anxious, tearful, and as someone who is traumatised.

The psychiatrist also told the court that Ms Hand described feeling detached, that she "just gave up" and allowed what was happening to happen, and that she felt like a "lump of meat".

At the outset of proceedings on Tuesday, Mr Justice Alex Owens said he needed to tell the jury that it had come to light that someone had taken a photograph or screenshot of a remote feed of the hearing, which had been set up last week for legal practitioners to view the case.

Judge Owens said this had been brought to the attention of the court service by a journalist and was being investigated as a breach of data protection and contempt of court.