Conor McGregor has broken his silence after losing his sexual assault case – where he was told he must pay the woman who accused him of raping her in a hotel six years ago €250,000.

McGregor, 36, faced an accusation that he ‘brutally raped and battered’ Nikita Hand, 35, at a hotel in south Dublin in December 2018.

The MMA fighter previously told the court he had consensual sex with Ms Hand, also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, at the Beacon Hotel. He denied causing bruising to the plaintiff.

And he has now vowed to appeal the decision – saying he was ‘disappointed’ and ‘focused on my future’.

Breaking his silence this afternoon, McGregor said: ‘I will be appealing today’s decision. The judge’s instruction and the modest award given was for assault, not for aggravated or exemplary damages.

‘I am disappointed that the jury did not hear all the evidence that the DPP reviewed. I am with my family now, focused on my future. Thank you to all my support worldwide.’

After deliberating for six hours and 10 minutes, the jury returned with their verdicts in the trial this afternoon, and awarded Ms Hand nearly €250,000.

McGregor shook his head as the jury of eight women and four men found him liable of assaulting Ms Hand.

Ms Hand cried and was hugged by her partner and supporters as the verdict was delivered. Outside the court, she described the last two weeks as a ‘nightmare’ but said she felt vindicated.

She separately lost her lawsuit against Conor McGregor’s friend, James Lawrence, who she also accused of assaulting her in the Dublin hotel.

McGregor was silent as he left court.

Nikita Hand alleged that McGregor sexually assaulted her on December 9, 2018, and that another man, James Lawrence, did the same, Ireland’s high court heard over two weeks of evidence.

Ms Hand said that she and a friend made contact with McGregor, who she knew, after a work Christmas party.

She said they were driven by McGregor to a party in a penthouse room of a south Dublin hotel where drugs and alcohol were consumed.

She said McGregor took her a bedroom in the penthouse and sexually assaulted her.

Ms Hand’s lawyer, John Gordon, said she was on antidepressants, and ‘full of drugs’ at the time of the alleged assault.

While in the jury room today, the jury were given an issue paper to record their decisions. It asked two questions for them to provide a verdict on.

The first was: ‘Did Mr McGregor assault Ms Hand?’

The second was: ‘Did Mr Lawrence assault Ms Hand?’.

They had to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’. An answer of ‘yes’ to either moved the jury to deciding what damages to award Ms Hand.

The total amount of damages awarded to Ms Hand by the jury was €248,603.60 (£206,621.91).

Nikita Hand said she hoped her case will remind victims of assault to keep ‘pushing forward for justice’, and show her daughter, Freya, ‘that you can stand up for yourself if something happens to you no matter who the person is and justice will be served’.

She said: ‘I hope my story is a reminder that no matter how afraid you might be: Speak up, you have a voice and keep on fighting for justice.

‘I know this has impacted not only my life, my daughter’s, my family and friends tremendously.

‘It’s something that I’ll never forget for the rest of my life.

‘Now that justice has been served, I can now try and move on and look forward to the future with my family and friends and daughter.’

Asked if she felt vindicated following the jury’s decision, she said: ‘Yes, I do. Thank you.’

Ahead of the verdict, Justice Owens spent some time on Thursday summing up evidence heard over the two weeks, from witnesses including Ms Hand, who has no automatic right to anonymity, McGregor and Mr Lawrence.

Evidence has also been heard from police, paramedics, psychiatrists, an actuary, colleagues of Ms Hand as well as a former principal forensic medical officer.

Justice Owens reminded them of a number of legal principles, including the standard of proof in a civil case which is on the balance of probabilities and that the onus of proof rests on the plaintiff.

He also reminded the jury that if they reached a verdict to award damages, there were several types of damages to consider including general, which covers pain and suffering to date and into the future, as well as distress and recognition of vindication.

Another type of damage includes aggravated damage which is payment to recognition of offences that shocked the plaintiff.

Exemplary damages are punitive damages which are to punish the defendant.

He said it should be an offence that is really serious, and that they could regard rape as really serious.

Justice Owens also said that someone attempting to cover up matters, or making statements that are ‘patently untrue’ are also serious.

Justice Owens told the jury to keep their feet ‘firmly on the ground’ and to ‘use their common sense’.

He told the jury that if they reach the stage of awarding damages, and when assessing what to give for loss of earnings, to deduct 15 per cent from their figure.

He told them this was called a deduction for contingencies as we live in ‘an uncertain world’, and the courts say these things have to be taken into account.

Justice Owens warned the jury not to talk to anyone about their deliberations, including their loved ones who he said may be interested in the case.

He told the jury to ‘look at all the evidence’.

The outcome of a civil case depends on the balance of probabilities, which is a lower standard of proof than the standard used in criminal cases.

In civil cases, a defendant is found liable or not liable.