A gang of masked men broke into the home of a woman who took a civil case against mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor accusing him of raping her, it can now be revealed.

The incident was referred to at the start of the court case in Dublin but could not be reported until now as it emerged during legal discussion while the jury were not present.

On Friday, a jury in the high court of Ireland found that McGregor had in December 2018 assaulted Nikita Hand, who had accused him of raping her, and awarded damages of nearly €250,000 (£208,000) in her favour.

The court heard that unknown masked men had broken into her home, smashed the windows and stabbed her boyfriend on 14 June.

Hand’s counsel, John Gordon, told Judge Owens that he was not suggesting the fighter was behind the attack but that it went some way to explain her anxiety and why she relocated from her home.

“The plaintiff’s home was invaded by a group of men wearing balaclavas,” he said.

“The broke into the plaintiff’s bedroom, and were driven out by the plaintiff’s partner, who suffered a stab wound in the process. Her daughter was in the next room, sleeping.”

Gordon also told the court that the men broke windows in the front room before leaving.

“We are not laying that at the feet of the defendants or saying they have anything to do with that,” he added.

“We do make the claim that it was not an untargeted attack, [it] rose from supporters of the first named defendant [McGregor].

“It is related to the claim that she had to move out of the Drimnagh area.”

The judge asked whether the claim was being made that McGregor had anything to do with it, to which Gordon replied: “No, judge, it is an item of special damage.

“It related to her state of anxiety and her claim that she had to move from the Drimnagh area, as she has now done.”

McGregor’s barrister, Remy Farrell, said it seemed Hand was introducing a claim “which is nothing to do with us”, and complained it would be “an invitation to the jury to speculate”.

The judge ruled that he considered it to be “completely irrelevant and shouldn’t be referred to”.

A Garda spokesperson confirmed it had received report of an incident of aggravated burglary and that investigations were ongoing. They added that a man had received hospital treatment for “non life-threatening injuries”.

On Friday, McGregor, who denied Hand’s claims as lies and fabrication designed to cover up cheating on her boyfriend, said he was appealing against the high court decision, noting that the damages award was “modest”.

He said: “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 [Ireland’s director of public prosecutions] reviewed. I am with my family now, focused on my future. Thank you to all my support worldwide,” he said on X.

The DPP had decided not to pursue the case in 2020 on the grounds there was not a reasonable prospect of a conviction.

McGregor had faced an accusation that he “brutally raped and battered” Hand at a hotel in south Dublin in December 2018.

The Irish sports star previously told the court he had consensual sex with Hand in a penthouse at the Beacon hotel.

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said the case was an important moment in establishing what “consent” meant after the judge made it clear in his closing comments to the jury that “submission” was not consent, nor was risky behaviour. Drinking or taking drugs “does not mean they are up for sex”, Owens said.