[imagesource:goodfon]

Jurors at Dublin’s High Court have been told that MMA fighter Connor McGregor “in effect raped” a woman who suffered a “violent and vicious assault” at his hands during a night of cocaine-fuelled partying.

The claim is part of a civil damages case against the Irish fighter and another man, James Lawrence, who allegedly sexually assaulted the woman in December 2018.

While Justice Alexander Owens told the High Court jury that it is alleged the two men had “in effect raped her”, lawyers for McGregor accused her of attempted “extortion”.

The woman’s lawyer, John Gordon SC, said the two accused knew each other, had mutual friends, and had occasionally been in contact on social media.

He stated that after going out with friends in the city on the night of the alleged incident, she texted the fighter, who picked her and a friend up in his car. The trio split a bag of cocaine while his driver drove them through housing estates before arriving at Lawrence’s residence, where he joined them in the car and drove them to the Beacon Hotel.

The court was told that the group, who had taken a penthouse apartment, was all drinking and laughing until the MMA star entered a bedroom and invited the woman to join him.

Once in the room, she alleges that McGregor “came on to her”, but she did not want to have sexual intercourse with him as she was on her period. McGregor allegedly then pinned her down on the bed and she was “completely unable” to push him off.

The court was told that jurors would “see pictures of her hands and wrists which are black and blue. You’ll see that her left breast has a bloody scrape. The scratch is there because she was wearing a watch and raised her hands to protect herself. She was forced down, and the watch left scars on her breast.”

“She was at this point completely terrified. She subjected herself to what was about to happen, which was a violent and vicious assault.”

It is alleged later that she had sex with Lawrence too, but has no recollection of such an event ever happening.

After returning home and seeing her mother, who dialled 999, the woman was transported to the hospital by ambulance.

“In the face of this, Mr McGregor will tell you that this was a consensual encounter, that they were just having fun and a bit of rough sex. That’s his answer.”

McGregor and Lawrence deny any wrongdoing and claim the case is “an attempt at extortion.”

The case is expected to last around two weeks.

[source:skynews]