Man City’s Benjamin Mendy cleared of six rape charges
London, Jan 13 (EFE).- Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of six counts of rape and one of sexual assault, a court in the northwestern English city of Chester ruled Friday.
The jury failed to reach a verdict on one count of rape and one count of attempted rape, however. Mendy will return to trial on June 26 for the two unresolved charges.
Mendy, 28, was suspended by Manchester City in August 2021 when the cases came to light, with the French left-back pleading not guilty to the allegations in May 2022.
The trial against him and his friend, 41-year-old Louis Saha, began on August 10, 2022.
After 14 days of deliberation, the jury of seven men and four women unanimously found Mendy not guilty of seven of the charges against him, while they were unable to reach a verdict on an alleged attempted rape of a woman in 2018 and an alleged rape of another woman in October 2020.
Saha was also found not guilty by the jury of three counts of rape of two teenage girls. However, the jury failed to reach a verdict on three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault against him.
At the trial, Mendy said the allegations would haunt him “for life” and that his football career “is over”, describing the situation as “absolute hell.”
The allegations claimed Mendy was a “predator” who met girls in Manchester nightclubs before inviting them to private parties at his Cheshire mansion, where the assaults allegedly took place.
Mendy was first arrested in November 2022 after allegedly raping a 24-year-old woman on three occasions.
He was later released under investigation before being charged by a different woman with sexual assault. While out on bail, three other women accused him of rape, including a 17-year-old. EFE
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