- Ex-Man City footballer Benjamin Mendy found not guilty of rape.
Ex-Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been cleared of raping a woman and attempting to rape another.
The 28-year-old was accused of attacking a 24-year-old woman at his £4m mansion in Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire in October 2020.
Mr Mendy was also accused of the attempted rape of another woman, aged 29, who said he had also molested her at his home two years before.
It comes after he was cleared of six rapes at an earlier trial in January.
The France international broke down in tears as the not guilty verdicts were read out by the jury foreman following a three-week trial at Chester Crown Court.
The jury of six men and six women deliberated for about three hours and 15 minutes before reaching their conclusion.
Judge Steven Everett said: “Mr Mendy can be discharged from the dock.”
The footballer, whose contract with Manchester City expired this month, was cleared at the earlier trial of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, relating to four young women or teenagers.
But jurors failed to reach verdicts on two counts of rape and attempted rape, prompting a re-trial.
‘Rebuild life’
Benjamin Aina KC, prosecuting, claimed he had enjoyed parties at his home and on two occasions “took advantage” of female guests, while his wealth and celebrity status turned him into a man not used to being told “no”.
The first complainant, woman A, a 29-year-old student, first met Mr Mendy while in a nightclub in Barcelona in late 2017 and she became intimate with one of his friends, the trial was told.
They kept in touch and a year later she arranged to visit Mr Mendy’s friend at the footballer’s house, where they stayed after they all went with other girls for a night out.
The woman told the jury that the morning after, when she took a shower in the en-suite bathroom, Mr Mendy appeared uninvited, wearing just boxer shorts, and he was visibly “aroused”.
She alleged Mr Mendy then grabbed her and tried to rape her on the bed, despite her repeatedly telling him to stop.
Mr Mendy told the jury the two were “flirting” during the night out and the next morning he went to her room and they began hugging on a bed.
He said she told him she would not have sex with him because she was with his friend.
Mr Mendy said she then got upset when he told her he had already asked his friend who had told him it would be “OK”.
He denied trying to rape her.
Another complainant, woman B, told the trial she was out with friends at a bar in Alderley Edge, Cheshire, near Mr Mendy’s home, when they were invited back to the footballer’s house in 2019.
The 24-year-old alleged Mr Mendy took her phone from her, which contained “intimate” photos, then led her to his locked bedroom, as she asked for her phone back.
She told the jury Mr Mendy told her “I just wanna have a look at you” and told her to take her clothes off, which she did.
‘10,000 women’
She said he threw her phone on the bed and when she went to retrieve it he raped her despite her telling him she did not want to have sex.
The woman told the trial that afterwards Mr Mendy said to her: “You’re too shy. It’s fine. I’ve had sex with 10,000 women.”
Mr Mendy told the jury the woman had agreed to “play around” on the bed and denied raping her saying afterwards they swapped details to connect on Snapchat.
Mr Aina, prosecuting, claimed Mr Mendy was not used to women saying no to him.
He said: “You wanted women who came to your house to party, get drunk and have sex?”
Mr Mendy replied: “If they want.
“I will never force to have sex with a woman.”
After the hearing his solicitor, Jenny Wiltshire, said: “Benjamin Mendy would like to thank the members of the jury for focussing on the evidence in this trial, rather than on the rumour and innuendo that have followed this case from the outset.
“This is the second time that Mr Mendy has been tried and found not guilty by a jury. He is delighted that both juries reached the correct verdicts.”
She said Mr Mendy had “tried to remain strong” but the process had “inevitably had a serious impact on him”.
He now wanted to ask for his privacy to be respected “so he can begin rebuilding his life,” Ms Wiltshire added.
