Conor McGregor civil case: 2 charged with perjury over UFC stars failed sexual assault appe
Litigation continues pertaining to Conor McGregor's 2024 civil sexual assault case, with a perjury trial set to begin in November.
Two individuals, a man and a woman, have been charged with perjury relating to evidence filed in the MMA star's failed appeal against a civil jury finding that he sexually assaulted Nikita Hand in December 2018.
Tuesday morning, Samantha O'Reilly and Steven Cummins were brought before Dublin District Court and charged with giving statements in a judicial proceeding which were false and which they knew to be false.
O'Reilly has been charged with two counts of giving false statements in January and May of last year. Cummins has been charged with one count of giving false statements in January of last year. Both were arrested in their home Tuesday morning before being brought to Ballyfermot Garda (Irish police) Station.
Appearing before Judge Michele Finan, neither of the defendants made a reply to the charges. Judge Finan was told the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has directed that they both be tried before a jury in the Circuit Criminal Court.
Both O'Reilly and Cummins were granted bail after agreeing to several conditions.
They must sign-in weekly at Ballyfermot Garda Station and be contactable via a phone number provided to the authorities. They must also make no contact with any of the witnesses, directly or indirectly.
O'Reilly and Cummins will appear before the court again on Nov. 9 for service of the book of evidence.
O'Reilly and Cummins were first arrested last September after the Court of Appeal referred documentation in McGregor's case to the DPP. As part of his appeal, the UFC star applied to introduce new evidence from O'Reilly and Cummins. The evidence was ultimately withdrawn just before the hearing was scheduled to start.
O'Reilly and Cummins, who were neighbors of Hands and her then-partner at the time of the assault, swore affidavits for the appeal. O'Reilly claimed that she has seen Hand's partner moving his body in a way that made her believe he was hitting her. Cummins claimed he was woken from his sleep by O'Reilly and their daughter, and that he heard screams coming from Hand's house across the street.
McGregor intended to introduce the evidence to provide an alternative explanation for the bruising on Hand's body. After the late withdrawal of the evidence by McGregor, Hand's legal team asked the Court of Appeal to refer the matter to the DPP. After reviewing the documentation, the Court of Appeal made the referral and a garda investigation led by the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation began.
In July 2025, McGregor's appeal was unanimously rejected on all grounds by a three-judge panel. The court found that no plausible reason had been advanced by him as to why "these extremely important and contentious parts of his appeal had been cast aside".
In December, McGregor's challenge to the civil court's findings effectively ended when the Supreme Court ruled that it would not hear a further appeal against the decision. The court found that McGregor had not raised any matter of general public importance and it was not satisfied that a further appeal should be permitted in the interests of justice.