By admin 
Two people who provided evidence intended to support UFC star Conor McGregor’s appeal of a civil jury finding that he sexually assaulted Nikita Hand have been charged with perjury in Ireland. The charges stem from affidavits submitted during McGregor’s ultimately unsuccessful attempt to introduce fresh evidence into his appeal.
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Samantha O’Reilly, 38, and Steven Cummins, 39, appeared before Dublin District Court on Tuesday, Sept. 29, and are accused of making false statements that were material to the legal proceedings (h/t The Independent).
Neither person has entered a plea, and the Director of Public Prosecutions has directed that they are scheduled to return to District Court on November 9, when prosecutors will serve the formal book of evidence before the case is sent forward for trial in the Circuit Criminal Court.
O’Reilly faces two counts of giving a false statement material to judicial proceedings. Cummins faces a single charge related to the January date. The perjury allegations concern affidavits O’Reilly and Cummins provided as part of McGregor’s appeal.
The development is the latest legal fallout from McGregor’s civil case involving Hand, who sued the former UFC champion over an alleged sexual assault at Dublin’s Beacon Hotel in December 2018. McGregor denied the allegation and maintained that their sexual encounter was consensual, but a High Court civil jury found him liable in November 2024 and awarded Hand over €248,000 in damages.
Withdrawn Evidence and Failed Appeal
O’Reilly, a former neighbor of Hand, claimed in her affidavit that she witnessed a physical altercation between Hand and her then-partner Stephen Redmond, around the time of the incident.
According to reporting on the affidavits, she said she saw movements that led her to believe Redmond had kicked Hand, although she did not claim to have directly seen the alleged kick itself.
Cummins, who was also a neighbor, separately claimed he was awakened by O’Reilly and their daughter and heard screaming coming from Hand’s home.
McGregor intended to use this evidence to provide an alternative explanation for bruising on Hand’s body.
Hand strongly rejected the allegations contained in the affidavits. She denied that Redmond had assaulted her and described the claims that there had been an altercation at her home as false.
The affidavits ultimately never became part of the appeal hearing. McGregor’s legal team withdrew the application to introduce the neighbors’ evidence before O’Reilly or Cummins could give evidence in court.
The Court of Appeal subsequently dismissed McGregor’s appeal in its entirety on all five grounds. Hand’s legal team had asked the Court of Appeal to refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions after the evidence was withdrawn.
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The withdrawal did not end the matter surrounding the affidavits. The Court of Appeal referred the material to the Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration of possible perjury, after Hand’s legal team raised concerns about the evidence that McGregor had attempted to introduce. A subsequent investigation was carried out by the Garda National Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Legal Proceedings and Context
The charges against O’Reilly and Cummins are separate from McGregor’s own civil case and do not amount to a new criminal charge against the Irish MMA star.
They concern allegations that the two witnesses knowingly made false statements in judicial proceedings, with the alleged offenses arising from affidavits dated Jan. 14, 2025, while O’Reilly faces an additional alleged offense connected to a May 6, 2025 affidavit.
Both O’Reilly and Cummins face trial on indictment, meaning the case will proceed to the Circuit Court, which can impose harsher sentences upon conviction. The perjury charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years’ imprisonment, although the two defendants have not been convicted and remain entitled to the presumption of innocence.
The couple had previously been arrested twelve months ago as part of the investigation before being charged this week.
McGregor’s Civil Case Is Still Closed
The perjury investigation developed alongside McGregor’s appeal, but the new charges do not reopen that appeal.
The initial civil case concluded in November 2024 when a jury of eight women and four men found McGregor civilly liable for assaulting Hand. In July 2025, a three-judge Court of Appeal unanimously rejected McGregor’s challenge to the High Court jury finding after considering the grounds advanced by his legal team.
McGregor subsequently sought permission to take the case to Ireland’s Supreme Court, but was rejected in December 2025, with the Supreme Court finding that he had not raised an issue of general public importance and that there was not a sufficient basis for a further appeal in the interests of justice.
McGregor has consistently denied the allegations and even proclaimed his innocence during a UFC 329 media day back in July.
“I’m an innocent man, and I’ll stand for my innocence until the day I go out,” McGregor told reporters. “There’s a reason why it didn’t go where it went and went to a civil trial.”
The case against the two witnesses will now proceed separately through Ireland’s criminal courts. Their charges remain allegations at this stage, and the court will ultimately determine whether the prosecution can prove beyond the applicable criminal standard that the statements were knowingly false and materially relevant to the proceedings.
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This story was originally published September 29, 2026 at 11:39 PM.