Nikita Hand may be awarded damages against a couple who swore affidavits on behalf of former MMA fighter Conor McGregor, after judgments were awarded against the couple by the High Court today.
Samantha O'Reilly and Steven Cummins claimed they were former neighbours of Ms Hand, living across the road.
Ms O'Reilly claimed to have seen Ms Hand's former boyfriend attack Ms Hand hours after Ms Hand said she had been raped by Mr McGregor.
Mr McGregor intended to introduce this evidence in his appeal against a civil jury's finding that he raped Ms Hand in a Dublin hotel in December 2018.
His lawyers had claimed the "new evidence" would put forward a plausible explanation as to how Ms Hand sustained severe bruising all over her body.
However, Mr McGregor's legal team dramatically withdrew this proposed ground of appeal just as proceedings were about to get underway in the Court of Appeal in July last year.
Ms Hand sued the couple and Mr McGregor for malicious abuse of the process of the court.
In papers to support her claim, her lawyers said Ms O'Reilly and Mr Cummins were not living at the address across the road from Ms Hand at the time and the contents of their affidavits were "entirely concocted" to advance Mr McGregor's interests.
Mr McGregor has engaged with the case and has entered an appearance in the case. However, neither Ms O'Reilly nor Mr Cummins have entered an appearance.
Ms Justice Emily Egan granted judgments against the couple in default of appearance and awarded the costs of the application to Ms Hand.
The next step in the case is for a judge to assess the damages that should be paid.
However, Ms Justice Egan put a stay on her orders for four weeks to allow time for the couple to come to court if they want to argue that the judgments should be set aside.
