A woman who accused Conor McGregor of raping her has spoken out outside court. A shaking Nikita Hand told a crowd of reporters that "justice has been served" after she won her civil case against the Irish mixed martial arts fighter. Hand was awarded €248,603 (£206,000) in damages after a jury at Dublin's High Court found McGregor assaulted her in a Dublin hotel in 2018. McGregor, 36, made no comment as he left court hand in hand with long term partner Dee following the decision on Friday evening.

Ms Hand said the last two weeks of her civil case against the fighter have been a "nightmare." Reading her statement, Ms Hand said: "I would like to start off by saying I'm overwhelmed and touched by the support I have received from everybody. It's something that I'll never forget for the rest of my life. Now that justice has been served, I can now try and move on and look forward to the future with my family and friends and daughter."

Ms Hand continued: "I hope my story is a reminder that no matter how afraid you might be: Speak up, you have a voice and keep on fighting for justice. You can stand up for yourself if something happens to you - no matter who the person is - and justice will be served." Meanwhile, McGregor said in a statement that he had instructed his legal team to appeal the civil court's decision, adding he was "disappointed that the jury did not hear all the evidence that the director of public prosecutions reviewed."

Ms Hand told the civil court McGregor pinned her to a bed, choked her three times and "brutally raped and battered" her. The jury was told she was left with injuries, including purple and blue bruising along her hands, wrists and neck and a bloodied scratch to her breast. McGregor had previously told the court he had consensual sex with Ms Hand in a penthouse at the Beacon Hotel in December 2018. However Hand said McGregor she did not want to have sexual intercourse with him as she was on her period and knew his partner.

Lawyers for McGregor accused Hand of attempted "extortion". They pointed to CCTV footage of her arriving at and leaving the hotel with McGregor and a second man, James Lawrence, whom she also accused of assault. Both McGregor and Lawrence denied any wrongdoing. While Ms Hand won her case against McGregor, she lost her claim against Lawrence.

At the start of the trial - when no jury was present - the court heard a group of masked men broke into Ms Hand's home, smashed windows and stabbed her boyfriend on 14 June. Ms Hand's counsel John Gordon said they were not "laying that at the feet of the defendants or saying they have anything to do with that. We do make the claim that it was not an untargeted attack, (it) rose from supporters of the first named defendant (McGregor)." The judge ultimately decided that the jury did not need to this prior to the civil case.