A High Court judge continues his detailed charge to the jury before they begin considering their verdict on a woman’s compensation claim against Conor McGregor.

Once the charge is concluded, the eight men and four women will be sent to begin deliberations in Nikita Hand’s case against the mixed martial arts fighter, in which she is seeking damages for an assault stemming from an alleged rape that took place at Dublin’s Beacon Hotel. On December 9, 2018.

They will also decide Ms Hand’s civil case against James Lawrence, 35, of Rafter’s Road, Drimnagh, over an alleged assault on him after he allegedly had sex without consent at the same location.

Both men deny the 35-year-old hairdresser’s allegations and claim they separately had consensual sex with Ms Hand on the date in question.

His Honor Judge Alexander Owens began his jury duty late Tuesday and continued from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, adjourning the case until Thursday because a juror had a medical appointment.

It details the statements made by witnesses in the case, which was opened on November 5 and entered its 11th day on Thursday. Mrs. Hand with her husband; Mr McGregor with his father Tony; and Mr. Lawrence were all in court.

The jury heard that Ms Hand and her colleague Danielle Kealey, along with Mr McGregor and Mr Lawrence, were driven to the hotel in Mr McGregor’s car at 12.30pm. CCTV showed Mr McGregor leaving with Ms Kealey at around 6.15pm and Ms Hand leaving with Mr Lawrence at around 10.30pm.

Ms Hand and Ms Kealey testified that they had been partying all night and consuming alcohol and cocaine from the evening of December 8 until the morning of December 9. Mr McGregor and Mr Lawrence were partying and consuming alcohol separately in Dublin nightclubs. Mr McGregor said cocaine was also present. Mr Lawrence said he had never taken cocaine.

Ms Hand said in evidence that she had been raped by Mr McGregor and that she had no memory of subsequently having sex with Mr Lawrence.

Mr McGregor denied rape and said in evidence that he and Ms Hand had “completely consensual”, “vigorous” and “athletic” sex without using a condom. He was later “shocked” when Ms Hand showed him photos of the bruising and said she had not caused it.

In his statement, Mr. Lawrence said he had consensual sex with Ms. Hand twice, using a condom, and that he saw no marks on her except for a small bruise, which he said she pointed out to him.

When they begin their deliberations, the jury will be asked to answer yes or no to separate questions about whether Mr. McGregor assaulted Ms. Hand and whether Mr. Lawrence assaulted Ms. Hand.

The judge said it was up to them to decide what evidence to accept and what to reject and whether some witnesses could have been more forthcoming. What you’re dealing with here is “not just truth and lies, but credibility and trustworthiness,” he said.

He said there were “silent witnesses” such as CCTV that they needed to examine closely.

But if they find that one or both men assaulted Ms Hand, they will begin assessing damages in four categories: general damages for the assault; special damages in the form of medical expenses; compensation for past and future loss of earnings; and aggravated damages. The judge told them that the purpose of the compensation was to compensate and that compensation was a matter that concerned them.

He said that if they concluded that Ms Hand had been raped by Mr McGregor, she would be entitled to more than nominal damages because the more seriously a person was assaulted, the greater the damages.

He said compensation must be appropriate to the harm done and caused, and the jury must act proportionately and fairly in all categories of harm. He added that if they got to the point of paying compensation, they should forget that Mr McGregor was a rich man and Mr Lawrence was not.