Woman who claims Conor McGregor choked and raped her ‘feared she wouldn’t see daughter again’

A woman who has accused Conor McGregor of raping her in a hotel bedroom has told a civil court she feared she would never see her daughter again when the mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter was “choking” her.

The woman is claiming civil damages against the Irish fighter and another man, James Lawrence, alleging they sexually assaulted her in December 2018.

But lawyers for the fighter, nicknamed “Notorious”, are contesting the allegations and have accused her of attempted “extortion”.

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The woman broke down as she described how she froze during the alleged attack, which she said “felt like it was going on for ages.”

On her second day of evidence at the High Court in the city on Wednesday, she accused Mr McGregor of pinning her to the bed and pressing his whole body weight on her so she could not breathe.

She could only move her head, she said and remembered “biting [Mr McGregor] really hard and then his arms were around me and choking me.

“I was trying to fight as much as I could. He put his arm around my neck and choked me three times,” she told the court.

“I just froze and I couldn’t move or breathe and I kept looking at the bedpost and thinking of my daughter.

“I just kept thinking I would die and not see my daughter again.

“He let me go and I remember saying I was sorry, as I felt that I did something wrong and I wanted to reassure him that I wouldn’t tell anyone so he wouldn’t hurt me again.”

‘Disappointed and upset’

The woman, who alleges she was “in effect raped” by the MMA fighter, visibly shook while giving evidence, and apologised to the court as she broke down several times, and asked for a number of breaks.

The jury was shown CCTV footage of her, a friend, and the two men, arriving at the Beacon Hotel on the night of 8 December and leaving at around 6pm the following day.

She was filmed returning to the hotel with Mr Lawrence and then leaving by taxi shortly before 10.30pm, but she said she had “no memory” of any of the footage which was played.

The plaintiff said she had to leave her job and has not been able to work since the alleged incident due to mental health issues.

Her relationship with her partner ended months afterwards, and she had to move out of her home, and her mortgage is now in arrears, she said.

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The court also heard that she has spent more than €4,000 (£3,331) on GP, pharmacy and psychotherapist costs but has since stopped seeing a counsellor because she can no longer afford the sessions.

The woman was left with extensive injuries, including purple and blue bruising along her hands and wrists, a bloodied scratch to her breast and tenderness to her neck after she was placed in a “choke-hold” by Mr McGregor, the court was told.

Lawyers for Mr McGregor say that what took place between them was consensual.

In response to questions from John Gordon SC, her defence barrister, she said she was “disappointed and upset” that the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) decided not to prosecute both defendants after she made a complaint to the Irish police and told officials she felt she was being treated differently because one of the suspects was a famous person.

Mr Gordon previously told the court McGregor and the plaintiff knew each other and had occasionally been in contact on social media.

He said after going out with friends in the city on the night of the alleged incident, she contacted the fighter, who picked up her and a friend in his car.

The court was told that McGregor “came on to her”, but she did not want to have sexual intercourse with him as she was on her period.

The case continues.