On Friday, Nikita Hand, a woman who accused mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Conor McGregor of raping her, won a civil case against him for damages.

He was ordered to pay her almost €250,000 (£208,000).

BBC News NI was in the packed courtroom when the jury, who had deliberated for a day, returned their verdict.

The small courtroom at Dublin’s High Court was filled with tension as the jury returned.

Conor McGregor and Nikita Hand sat relatively close together in the back of the courtroom.

Close, but worlds apart.

A momentous decision awaited these two people almost six years after spending time together in a Dublin hotel on December 9, 2018.

Nikita Hand claimed she was raped by the MMA star that day. He claimed they had “fully consensual sex.”

When the case resumed Friday morning, Nikita Hand sat at one end of a wooden bench at the back of the courtroom, her partner Gary at her side.

A row of chairs had been placed behind the bench to accommodate the other participants.

McGregor sat down in one of the chairs at the opposite end of the bench.

His fiancée, Dee Devlin, accompanied him for the first time and they sat together.

He was also joined by his parents as well as a small group of supporters who stood immediately behind him in the back corner of the courtroom.

As the judge addressed the jury early in the morning, Conor McGregor fixed his gaze on them.

Once the jury left the courtroom to resume deliberations, he stood and chatted with his supporters, occasionally entering and leaving the courtroom, sipping from a bottle of water, occasionally exhaling from slow puffs of breath and occasionally humming briefly.

Later in the day, the court heard that the jury wanted to continue until 6:00 p.m. local time.

No more uncertainty and waiting.

Then, late in the afternoon, word of a breakthrough suddenly spread: the jury was about to deliver its verdict.

McGregor returned with even more supporters around him this time, and the back of the courtroom was packed.

A court official eventually had to ask some of the people in the back to leave the room and go to the public gallery upstairs.

As the jury returned to the courtroom, Ms. Hand and McGregor appeared emotional.

Before addressing the jury, the judge said he wanted “calm” for the verdicts and warned that “anyone who makes a scene will end up in prison”.

The jury of eight women and four men had deliberated for six hours and ten minutes and now, on the 12th day of the case, they were preparing to answer two questions about two men.

Did Conor McGregor attack Nikita Hand?

They answered “yes”.

Did James Lawrence Assault Nikita Hand?

The jury said “no”.

The court remained silent.

Then, details of the damages awarded against Conor McGregor were announced.

There were a few exchanges before the judge finally clarified that the total damages amounted to almost €250,000.

With that, the matter was over.

People began to file out of the courtroom and media outlets rushed outside to prepare to relay this news to a global audience.

Shortly afterwards, McGregor emerged from the court, surrounded by his family and supporters, and followed by the media every step of the way along the front of the High Court to a waiting car.

Reporters asked repeated questions about the outcome of the case and its future.

McGregor said nothing, and he was quickly ushered into a waiting car and driven away to a backdrop of clicking cameras and flashing lights.

He later announced on social media that he planned to appeal the decision.

Shortly after McGregor left, Ms Hand headed to the waiting media, surrounded by her legal team and her boyfriend.

She cried several times as she read a statement in which she thanked her partner, her daughter, her family and everyone who sent her messages of support.

When she finished her statement and was about to turn away, I asked her to describe the last two weeks.

“A nightmare,” she replied.