(CNN) – Former mixed martial arts champion Conor McGregor said he will instruct his legal team to appeal the civil conviction against him in a rape case as large crowds in Dublin showed their support for the woman accusing him.
McGregor was accused of raping Nikita Hand in a hotel room in 2018. A civil jury ruled Friday that McGregor must pay Hand almost 250,000 euros (about $263,600) in compensation after the athlete was found guilty of assault, according to the Irish Court Service.
On Monday, McGregor addressed the issue in a post on X (formerly Twitter), writing: “I have instructed my legal team to appeal this decision.”
Hand said during the trial that the attack left her with bruises after a night of partying and that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Associated Press.
Speaking to the media after Friday’s verdict, he called the trial a “nightmare” and the attack something “I will never forget for the rest of my life.”
“I want to show (my daughter) Freya and all the other boys and girls that they can protect themselves if something happens to them, no matter who the person is, and that justice will be served,” he added.
“I hope my story reminds all victims of sexual assault that no matter how afraid you are, you must speak out because you have a voice and you must continue to fight for justice.”
During the trial, McGregor maintained that he never forced Hand to do anything against her will and said she made the allegations after they had consensual sex, the AP reported.
“As much as I regret it, everything that happened that night was consensual and was said under oath by all witnesses present,” McGregor wrote in X.
When asked by CNN, the Irish Court Service confirmed the decision but said there was no written decision in the civil case.
Large crowds gathered on the streets of Dublin on Monday to show solidarity with Hand and criticize the decision of the Irish Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) not to prosecute McGregor.
Police investigated Hand’s complaint, but prosecutors declined to press charges, saying there was insufficient evidence and a conviction was unlikely, according to the AP.
Fingal County Councilor Ruth Coppinger posted photographs of the protest on the website Nikita Hand was intoxicated and unable to consent; He had serious injuries. “Why can’t our legal system respond to survivors?”
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office told CNN that in Ireland, reasons for not prosecuting cases are generally not disclosed to the media or the general public.