A jury hearing the compensation case of a woman who claims she was raped by Conor McGregor in a Dublin hotel has been urged to decide the case on the evidence and not on whether they “may” or “hate” Mr McGregor.

Remy Farrell SC, in his closing address for Mr McGregor, said it was “absolutely vital” that they make a decision in accordance with the evidence and not because of their gut reaction or emotion or because they may not like Mr McGregor.

Hair colourist Nikita Hand, 35, claimed in her compensation claim that she was sexually assaulted by Mr McGregor and another man, James Lawrence, of Rafter’s Road, Drimnagh, at the Beacon hotel on December 9, 2018.

Both defendants denied her allegations and claimed they had consensual sex with her at the hotel.

On Tuesday, Mr. Farrell said Mr. McGregor was “hard to avoid,” someone who “generates strong opinions, some love him, some don’t.”

Mr McGregor “isn’t holding back on coming forward” and said some of the jury may have had a negative view of him, while others actively disliked him “or even hated him”.

He said there is no point in claiming otherwise.

He said the case was also not about “justification.” He said the jury had been informed of the DPP’s decision not to prosecute and there had been a suggestion that the court was the only place where he could get vindication. He said the DPP’s opinion did not matter and neither did anyone else’s opinion.

He said saying Mr McGregor had a strong personality might be a euphemism and there might be something in the evidence to support that.

Mr McGregor heard “a gasp” when he referred to Ms Hand and Ms Kealey as “two lovely women” and “a bit over-the-top” when they got into his car.

The lawyer also said they might be curious about the fact that he referred to himself as a “proud” person who did not draw attention to his own defeat in a fight in October 2018.

The lawyer also said they could also have an opinion on his behavior as a family man, such as going to the city and staying in a hotel. He wasn’t asking them to like Mr. McGregor or invite him to lunch on Sunday, he was just asking them to look at the evidence.

He said Ms Hand had told “persistent” lies and “absolute lies” about a variety of matters before, during and after the events at the Beacon Hotel.

Everyone lies in stages, but in this case, the “why” of the lie was more important, he said. Among the lies was that she told her boyfriend she was going into town on December 9, 2018, when she was checking into a hotel in Sandyford.

Perhaps the most significant lie was the message Ms Hand sent to her boyfriend at 6.28pm after the alleged rape: “everything is great, I’m so drunk.” It is understood from the message that says.

CCTV showed Ms Hand going “happy, happy, happy” throughout the hotel “until she realized she had to go home to face the music”. CCTV showed Ms Hand “doing a little victory dance” in the car park after Mr Mc Gregor left and making contact with her then-boyfriend before returning to her hotel room with Mr Lawrence.

Mr Farrell said the jury’s question was whether Mr McGregor had assaulted Ms Hand, when in fact it was about rape, rape being a form of assault.

He said that in such a case there is a winner and a loser, and the jury should ignore the consequences of their decision. It’s not about who they might want to see win or lose, those are questions they need to keep in mind.

The jury had been asked to consider the case about rape and to dismiss much of it as “just noise” other than security cameras, text messages Ms Hand sent to her boyfriend and other evidence, including Danielle Kealey. He said it wasn’t “just noise” from the hotel with Ms. Hand.

He said the memory issue was very important. Ms. Hand said she remembered some things but not others.

The jury must consider whether they believe Ms. Hand woke up after the alleged rape, had no memory, and then came back, he said.

The “remarkable feature” of Ms. Hand’s memory loss is that it blocks her memory not only of the allegedly traumatic events, but also of other non-traumatic events that suggest the alleged rape did not occur.

The delayed shock theory was advanced by Ms Hand’s lawyer during the opening of the case, who said she was “high on drugs” and that her apparent “state of elation” was delayed shock. The jury must think this is a true statement and look at what he remembers and what he doesn’t remember when he thinks about it.

She said she remembered being raped but temporarily “forgot” about it when she woke up. The jury must consider whether they “make sense” of this. She recalled other matters, including returning to her hotel room after the alleged rape, but there was a “black hole” over whether she had sex with Mr Lawrence.

The jury has to decide whether Ms Hand was probably correct or whether it was true that she said ‘I can’t remember’ anything problematic. He said his account was “carefully selected”.

The lawyer concluded that if this case involved anyone other than Mr. McGregor, he would slam the jury room door behind them before returning to dismiss the case.

Closing speeches on behalf of Mr McGregor are over, followed by speeches on behalf of Mr Lawrence and then Ms Hand.

Following closing arguments, the jury will be charged according to law by Mr Justice Alexander Owens before returning their verdicts for consideration.

The eight men and four women were told at the beginning of the trial that they would have to decide the case on the civil standard of evidence and the balance of probabilities.

Today the jury was given a matter sheet setting out the questions they must answer, including whether Mr McGregor assaulted Ms Hand. They will be asked to decide separately whether Mr Lawrence assaulted Ms Hand.

The judge told them they would also receive a list of evidence and information, including the main evidence and amounts relating to Ms Hand’s loss of earnings claim.

The jury heard that Ms Hand, then 29, and her colleague Danielle Kealey had been at their work Christmas party the evening before, consumed alcohol and cocaine, and continued partying until the morning of December 9, when they were elected. In Mr McGregor’s car at around 10.15am.

Mr McGregor and Mr Lawrence were partying separately at nightclubs in the city centre. Mr McGregor said he had bought drinks for his group and cocaine was also available. Mr Lawrence said he had some alcohol but no cocaine. Mr Lawrence drove home at one point before agreeing to drive Mr McGregor to the Beacon hotel, arriving around 12.30pm.

CCTV footage showed Mr McGregor and Ms Kealey leaving the hotel at around 6.13pm, while Ms Hand and Mr Lawrence left the hotel at around 10.30pm.

Ms Hand said in evidence that she had been raped by Mr McGregor in the hotel and that she had no memory of having sex with Mr Lawrence after Mr McGregor and Ms Kealey broke up.

Ms Hand was referred to the sexual assault unit at Rotunda hospital on 10 December and gave a statement to gardai on 9 January 2019.

The jury heard that Mr McGregor made no allegations against Mr Lawrence until he gave a statement alleging he had consensual sex at the hotel on two occasions following his split with Ms Kealey.

Mr McGregor returned to court 24 of the Four Courts today with his father Tony. Ms. Hand is in court with her husband.