Couple in Conor McGregor perjury probe refuse book of evidence

A Dublin couple accused of giving false statements for an appeal by Conor McGregor over a civil rape case have refused to accept the book of evidence while their solicitor is on strike as part of the legal aid dispute.

Samantha O’Reilly and Steven Cummins appeared before Judge Treasa Kelly at Dublin District Court on Monday.

It follows an investigation by Irish police into evidence filed in McGregor’s failed appeal against the jury’s finding that he raped Nikita Hand.

Ms O’Reilly and Mr Cummins, both 39, have not entered pleas.

They have been charged with giving statements in judicial proceedings which were false, and they knew to be false.

Ms O’Reilly faces two counts of giving false statements in January and May of last year.

The offences are alleged to have happened in Lincoln Lane, Dublin.

She was arrested with Mr Cummins at their home in Cherry Orchard Green, Ballyfermot, in September.

They were to be served the book of evidence at court on Monday. A garda told the court that the book was ready to be served.

When asked if they would accept the book of evidence or have the matter put back, Ms O’Reilly said she wanted it put back.

They told the court that their solicitor, Tony Collier, was on strike over the criminal legal aid dispute.

Both defendants refused to accept service of the book as Mr Collier was not present to act for them in court until the ongoing legal aid dispute has been resolved.

Ms O’Reilly and Mr Cummins were arrested last year after a court in Dublin referred claims made by them as part of McGregor’s appeal to the director of public prosecutions (DPP) over perjury concerns.

It came after a request by the lawyer of Ms Hand, 35, who successfully sued McGregor in a civil court over an incident in which he was alleged to have “brutally raped and battered” her in a penthouse at a south Dublin hotel in December 2018.

McGregor, who told the court he had consensual sex with Ms Hand, launched an appeal after a jury of eight women and four men found him civilly liable for assault.

That appeal was expected to contain fresh evidence after an affidavit from Ms O’Reilly, who was a former neighbour of Ms Hand, who claimed she had witnessed a physical row between Ms Hand and her then partner at about the time of the incident at the Beacon hotel.

Ms Hand denied any altercation with her former partner, and the court heard last year that she described the claims from Ms O’Reilly and Mr Cummins as “lies”.

The new evidence, however, was unexpectedly withdrawn as part of the appeal, and McGregor’s legal team told the court that it would no longer be relying on the material.

Mr Justice O’Moore said at the time that the manner in which the new evidence was abandoned “in the last moment… remain mysterious”.

McGregor later lost his appeal against the civil jury’s finding on all five grounds that the case was taken.

The Supreme Court also refused to hear appeals from McGregor in relation to Ms Hand’s  civil case against them.

Ms Hand, also known as Nikita Ni Laimhin, was awarded 248,603.60 euro in damages and McGregor was also ordered to pay about 1.3 million euro in legal costs after November’s trial.

Ms O’Reilly and Mr Cummins were remanded on continuing bail until December 7 to allow for further time for the book to be served.