A note handed by the jury foreman to Mr Justice Alexander Owens this morning said a man had been noticed yesterday in the balcony gallery above the courtroom pointing a phone at the jury.
The note said the jury was concerned about the possibility that photos or videos of them could be circulated.
Mr Justice Owens directed that a garda be placed in the gallery and said he too would be “keeping an eye out” to ensure there was no prospect of it happening again.
Nikita Hand
“Clearly if that happened, it is completely inappropriate,” the judge said.
“It is a contempt of court to take photos of the jury and there will be steps taken to deal with that matter in the event anyone is suspected of it.”
Mr Justice Owens also directed that anyone standing in the balcony gallery had to leave and that only those with seating could remain.
The matter was outlined by the judge at the outset of the fourth day of hearings in Nikita Hand’s civil action for damages against McGregor and his associate James Lawrence.
The mother of one, a hair colourist from Drimnagh in Dublin, is being cross-examined for a second day by McGregor’s counsel Remy Farrell SC.
Much of the cross-examination has focused on alleged inconsistencies in Ms Hand’s account.
In her lawsuit, Ms Hand (35) claims she was raped by both of McGregor (36) and Lawrence in a penthouse at the Beacon Hotel in Sandyford, Dublin on December 9, 2018.
She has given evidence that she was “brutally raped and battered” by McGregor.
She and her work colleague Danielle Kealy were brought to the hotel by McGregor that morning from the salon where they worked in Goatstown.
Conor McGregor
They had been out all night at an alcohol- and cocaine-fuelled Christmas party and wanted to continue partying that morning. Ms Hand has said she had been drinking beer and Bacardi and had also been taking cocaine.
According to her account, McGregor had a bag of cocaine in the car on the way to the hotel and she and Ms Kealy had some of it.
The group arrived at the hotel around 12.30pm. The rape is alleged to have happened some time in hours that followed.
She alleges McGregor pinned her down on a bed in the penthouse, choked her three times and violently raped her after she refused to perform oral sex on him. She says she struggled and bit McGregor but was overpowered and had to submit.
Both McGregor and Lawrence claim they each twice had consensual sex with her that day and that her claim for damages to relocate from Drimnagh amounted to extortion.
Ms Hand says she has no recollection of a second sexual encounter with McGregor or of any sexual activity with Lawrence.
She had told the court she does not remember much of events in the hours immediately after the alleged rape due to the amount of alcohol and drugs in her system.
Medical evidence heard by the court revealed she presented at the Sexual Assault Unit of the Rotunda Hospital the following day with extensive bruising on her body. A tampon lodged inside her vagina had to be removed with a forceps.
Yesterday, Ms Hand rejected McGregor’s version of events when it was put to her by his counsel.
The UFC fighter claims Ms Hand followed him into the bedroom of the penthouse and was a willing participant in consensual sex.
Ms Hand said McGregor’s version of events was “like a made-up story” that “didn’t happen”.
“He did not have sex with me, he raped me,” she said.
