Mendy, 28, sitting in the dock at Chester Crown Court, covered his face with both hands, gently rocking back and forth like a jury foreman, delivering verdicts in a silent courtroom repeated “not guilty” to six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, involving four young women or teenagers.
‘Not Guilty’
Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been cleared of sexual assaults on four women after a six-month trial as prosecutors sought retrial over two other allegations. The player, 28, sitting in the dock at Chester Crown Court, covered his face with both hands, gently rocking back and forth like a jury foreman, delivering verdicts in a silent courtroom repeated “not guilty” to six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, involving four young women or teenagers. Unanimous verdicts were delivered on Wednesday by the seven men and four women on the jury; one juror was previously discharged for medical reasons. The judgments could not be reported until the jurors considered the remaining two counts after they were given majority direction by Judge Stephen Everett, meaning he would accept a 10-1 majority on either verdict.
Mendy’s ‘fixer’ was found not guilty too
But after 14 days of deliberation, jurors could not reach verdicts on Mandy’s alleged attempted rape of a woman, 29, in 2018 and the rape of another woman, 24, in October 2020. Judge Everett discharged the jury on Friday, ending the trial. Louis Saha Matturie, 41, his co-accused and alleged “fixer”, was found not guilty by a jury of three counts of rape involving two teenagers. Jurors also failed to reach verdicts on three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault against him by five other women. Both have been under investigation since August 10, accused of several sexual offences by 13 women. Matthew Conway, prosecuting, said the prosecution would seek a retrial on counts on which the jury could not reach verdicts.
All the makings of good drama
He said: “The prosecution has made a decision. We decided today to proceed on these items in two separate trials, and we are seeking interim management today.” The statements and trial were “absolute hell” for Mendy, the court heard, and his life in football is “over” as he would “never escape” the charges. Mendy has been accused of being a “predator” who turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game; his court heard drinking champagne in the VIP areas of Manchester nightclubs before inviting young women into “toxic and dangerous” situations at an “afterparty” at his £4.7 million Cheshire mansion in Mottram St. Andrew, near Prestbury. But defenders also told jurors that while the trial, including money, gender and celebrity, had “all the makings of good drama,” it came with a significant “plot twist”; the accused were innocent.
Man City suspended Mendy in August 2021
The lockdown-busting parties were being held at both Mandy’s house and the apartment he rented on Chapel Street near the centre of Manchester city, the court heard. He was first arrested in November 2020 after the alleged triple rape of a 24-year-old woman at his home the previous month. Mendy was released under investigation before being charged with sexual assault on another woman, 24 years old, two months later. While on police bail for that crime, he was later accused of the rape of three other women, one aged 17 – all the crimes of which he was cleansed. His club suspended Mendy in August 2021 after he was accused of rape. Timothy Cray KC, prosecuting, said the football player, a man with money, power and privilege, thought about what was “in his pants”, and that was why he got it “terribly wrong” in believing women were consenting to sex.
‘Predators and monsters’
Lisa Wilding KC, representing Matturie, told jurors that it was “frighteningly easy” to make false statements and suggested that all the women involved all connected in some way through friendships, social media connections or going to parties. Lawyers for both men told while the trial began with claims Mendy and Matturie were “predators” and “monsters”, each statement was “riddled with inconsistencies and flaws”. The jurors were told not to take a “moralistic” approach to the defendants’ sexual lifestyles, and the Cheshire Police’s approach was also criticized in court. Eleanor Laws KC, defending Mendy, suggested that “regret” about having “fast, animalistic sex” is not the same as being raped. Ms Wilding said the sexual habits and lifestyles of the defendants did not make them rapists and that women over the past 40 years have earned sexual equality; however, that is expressed.
She said the plaintiffs, in this case, were actively pursuing sex with men they barely knew, and that’s their right – but it can come with detriment and embarrassment after. Mendy denied seven counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault against six young women between October 2018 and August 2021. Matturie, of Eccles, Salford, denied six counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault involving seven young women between July 2012 and August 2021.