A man has told a High Court jury he would “never in a million years” be the “fall guy” for his friend Conor McGregor in relation to a woman’s claim she was raped by Mr McGregor.
“What man would put himself up for raping a woman?” James Lawrence told his counsel John FitzGerald SC.
Mr Lawrence, of Rafter’s Road, Drimnagh, said he had consensual sex twice with Nikita Hand in a suite in the Beacon hotel on the evening of December 9th, 2018 after Mr McGregor had left the hotel.
He earlier saw Ms Hand having sex with Mr McGregor in an interconnecting room of the suite, he said.
‘I’m hoping at least one girl who is on the fence about reporting her violent boyfriend ... will read about my case’
What Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and the Greens promised in 2020 - and how much they delivered
Ciara Mageean: ‘I just felt numb. It wasn’t even sadness, it was just emptiness’
Restaurateur Gráinne O’Keefe: I cut out sugar from my diet and here’s how it went
He was “shocked” when later shown photos of bruising on Ms Hand, he had not caused those and as far as he was aware, nor had Mr McGregor, he said.
Ms Hand had told “multiple” lies, he said.
Evidence from Mr Lawrence was heard on Thursday in the continuing civil action by Ms Hand for damages for alleged sexual assault of her by both men in the Beacon hotel on December 9th, 2018.
The jury has heard Ms Hand and a work colleague, Danielle Kealey, were partying from the evening of December 8th into the morning of December 9th, that both women were picked up in Mr McGregor’s car about 10.15am on December 9th, that Mr Lawrence was picked up some time after, and all four arrived at the hotel about 12.30pm on December 9th.
CCTV footage showed Mr McGregor and Ms Kealey leaving the hotel about 6.13pm and Ms Hand and Mr Lawrence leaving about 10.30pm.
Ms Hand said in evidence she had been raped by Mr McGregor in the hotel. She said she had no memory of having sex with Mr Lawrence after Mr McGregor left and Ms Kealey left.
Ms Hand was referred to the Rotunda hospital’s sexual assault unit on December 10th and she made a statement to gardaí on January 9th.
Both respondents have denied her claims and have pleaded they had consensual sex with her.
In evidence on Thursday, Mr Lawrence said he knew Mr McGregor from when he was a child and they became closer as they got older. He was out with Mr McGregor and others on the night of December 8th/9th, 2018, and had some drinks. He had not taken cocaine and has never taken cocaine in his life, he said.
He got a taxi home and later on the morning of December 9th went with Mr McGregor and two women to the Beacon hotel in Mr McGregor’s car. He “definitely” knew there was no cocaine taken from his house that morning, he said.
He saw flirtatious behaviour between Mr McGregor and Ms Hand in the car and in the hotel suite, he said.
He said he saw Mr McGregor go into an interconnecting room of the suite and Ms Hand followed him in.
The door between the interconnecting rooms was open, he could hear them having sex, and Ms Hand moaning, he said. Ms Kealey had said to him “she is going to regret that, she’s just bought a house with her boyfriend”, he said.
He said nothing was going on between him and Ms Kealey then but they later had sex using condoms.
He said Ms Hand was coming in and out from the room, was in good spirits and there was “nothing wrong with her”. He said he at one point saw, through the interconnecting door, Ms Hand and Mr McGregor having sex. She was naked on top of Mr McGregor, he said.
He said Mr McGregor and Ms Hand later came out of the room fully dressed and in good form.
Mr McGregor had left with Ms Kealey to give her a lift home in his car, driven by his security, he said.
Mr Lawrence said he was to leave with Ms Hand in another car driven by another security man and they had eventually left in that car but later decided to return to the hotel. He said Ms Hand had been kissing him over some time and when they returned to the hotel room, they had sex using condoms.
He said he had not noticed any marks on Ms Hand and she had said nothing to him.
They ate food obtained by a security guard and later had sex a second time, he said.
After that, he could see Ms Hand starting to get upset, he said. He asked her what was wrong, she said “nothing” but he could see tears in her eyes. He said she was looking at her leg and her arm, he could see a bruise and she asked him what would she tell her boyfriend. It was only a small bruise, he said, nothing like the bruising he was shown later in photos.
She did not say anything to him about “turning a blind eye to what Conor did”, he said.
He said she then said don’t worry about it, “it’s just me”, she got like that with drink.
They stayed on for a while longer before getting a taxi, he said. Ms Hand was kissing him in the taxi and telling him she really liked him, he said. He got dropped off at a friend’s house in Crumlin and gave Ms Hand €50 for the taxi, he said.
He later read articles on the internet about a rape allegation and a sports star. He did not at first think it had anything to do with Mr McGregor but the more he read, he was concerned. He said he discussed it with Mr McGregor and took legal advice.
In cross-examination, he agreed with Mr Gordon that Ms Hand only made a complaint about his conduct after he went to the guards and told them he had had sex with her in the hotel.
Asked had he put himself “directly in the firing line”, he said what he had said is “the truth”.
He said he would not stand up for any man doing anything to any woman and he himself would not do anything to any woman.
Mr Gordon said Mr Lawrence had said in a statement to gardaí he had “soft” sex with Ms Hand.
Asked how he felt about having sex with a woman who is drunk, Mr Lawrence said he is well aware if anyone is drunk. People can be drunk and have sex, he said.
Ms Hand was in her right mind, he did not chase her around and she was the one who had come on to him, he said. She was “well able” to text her boyfriend while they were in the hotel, he said.
He did not notice Ms Hand having any tampon when they were having sex, he said. If she had, he would not have had sex with her, he said.
He did not see any blood on the sheets, he said. He saw Ms Hand looking at the sheets at one stage, he thought “one drip” he saw was red sauce from burgers they had eaten.
She had said, “that’s not from me,” he said.
Earlier on Thursday, cross-examination of Mr McGregor concluded.
During that, Mr McGregor denied a suggestion by Mr Gordon it was in his mind Mr Lawrence “might take the fall” in relation to Ms Hand’s claim she was raped by Mr McGregor. He had not “colluded” with Mr Lawrence in relation to his response to the rape claim, he said.
He believed he had paid legal fees for Mr Lawrence in relation to the action by Ms Hand, he said.
Mr Lawrence is his friend and would not have the funds for the case, he said.
Mr McGregor was asked about interviews with gardaí, including one on January 17th, 2019, at Dundrum Garda station when Mr McGregor was accompanied by his solicitor.
Mr McGregor agreed he provided a prepared statement on that date.
He agreed he had answered questions with “no comment”. Counsel said he had replied: “No comment” to more than 100 questions.
He said he had taken legal advice, this was the first time something like this had happened in his life, he was in an alien situation, and he was “beyond petrified”.
The judge told the jury that Mr McGregor, like everyone else, is perfectly entitled to say no comment on the advice of his lawyers and they could not draw any adverse inference about his doing so.
Mr McGregor said he “would have loved to go to the top of the mountain and shout it from the hilltops” but the seriousness of the allegation was such he went to lawyers and took their advice.
He agreed he had made a statement to gardaí. In that statement, read to the jury, he said, among other things, he had sex with Ms Hand in the hotel, they were “both enjoying ourselves and having a good time”. The statement said Ms Hand was “enjoying it and moaning with pleasure” and he ejaculated at least once.
In his statement, he said he was shocked that the rape allegation had been made by Ms Hand. “It is completely false and I deny it”.
Mr McGregor agreed he was shown photos of Ms Hand with bruises and had said he was shocked by those. He agreed he had said maybe Ms Hand had sex with someone else. His story has never waned in six years, Ms Hand’s story has, he said.
He agreed he had made a reference to Mr Lawrence having sex with Ms Hand in a later statement on January 18th, 2019.
Asked was it in his mind that Mr Lawrence might be “the patsy” and “might take the fall” for him, he said no.
He said he did not cause the bruises on Ms Hand and, having been shown the photos, he had asked after been shown them whether she had sex with someone else. It seemed she did have sex with someone else on the evening in question, he said.
Pressed on the matter, he said “she definitely had sex with two people”. He was not suggesting she had sex with more than two. “I don’t know,” he said.
He disagreed he had had a discussion with Mr Lawrence “how to play this”.
He was asked about medical evidence that a tampon was wedged at the top right hand side Ms Hand’s vagina and was removed with a forceps.
When Mr Gordon said, “in simple language”, his DNA was found in precisely the same location, Remy Farrell SC, for Mr McGregor, objected, saying it was an unfair way to put this.
After brief legal discussion in the absence of the jury, Mr McGregor said it was broad daylight and there was no tampon. Asked how he believed the tampon had got there, he said “not from me, not with me”.
When Mr Gordon suggested the reason he would hire hotel rooms at night was to bring girls back for sex, he said no, he would use hotels for parties or to get himself rested.
He denied the intention was to have Ms Hand and her friend “replace” girls he had been partying with earlier and who had been left back home to Clontarf.
He denied the purpose of reserving the suite in the hotel was to have sex.
The purpose was for a possible after party or to rest, he said.
He was out late in the night and he sometime found it best to rest and recharge and get back into normal life, he said.
He denied he was waiting around for the suite to become available at noon.
Asked did he come out of Mr Lawrence’s house on the morning of December 9th with a bag of cocaine, he said there was already cocaine in his car. He agreed Ms Hand and Ms Kealey took cocaine in the car. He agreed he had cocaine in the car.
Mr Gordon asked Mr McGregor whether Ms Hand was in fear, saying she had repeatedly said during evidence she was frightened and there was a Garda note to that effect.
Mr McGregor said it could be safely ascertained from “every shred of unbiased evidence” there was no trace of fear when he was with Ms Hand. It was clear there were “no signs of distress whatever” on the part of Ms Hand, he said. She was “joyous, happy, excitable and having a good night all the way through”, he said.
In re-examination, Mr McGregor agreed with Mr Farrell he had been cautioned before interviews with gardaí. He agreed he was told at a later garda interview inferences could be taken if he remained silent and it was after that he had said he believed Mr Lawrence had had sex with Ms Hand.
The case continues on Friday before Mr Justice Alexander Owens and a jury of eight women and four men.
