Benjamin Mendy-Ex-Manchester City Defender Not Guilty of Rape

Benjamin Mendy, a former Manchester City football player, is now acquitted on charges of raping a woman and attempting to rape another after a staggering two-year court battle.
In October 2020, the 28-year-old fullback was accused of attacking a woman aged 24 years old in his £4m mansion in Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire. He was also accused by another 29-year-old woman withs claims that the former Man City man attempted to rape her in the same home in 2018. The most recent rape charges have been dropped after the court cleared other similar cases at the start of the year.
The court verdict to drop the charges left the French international in tears as the jury foreman read out the verdict. The charges were dropped after the jury of 12 men and six women had a lengthy deliberation over the case for three weeks. Judge Steven Everett, who was in charge of the proceedings at the Chester Crown Court, ordered the French international to be discharged from the dock.
In an earlier trial, Mendy was cleared of six counts of rape and one for sexual assault involving four young women. However, the jurors found had a tough time reaching a verdict on the remaining two counts of rape and attempted rape; therefore, a re-trial was scheduled. The ruling comes at peculiar time, just when the fullback’s contact at Manchester City comes to an end.
According to the witnesses, Mr Mendy enjoyed the two parties at his mansion and, on the two occasions, “took advantage” of the female guests as his wealth and celebrity status had turned him into a man he wasn’t. The former City man denied these charges.
A solicitor, Leon Kalisto shared his sentiments with EatNews, stating, “The ruling outcome was expected since the plaintiffs had insufficient evidence against Mr Mendy. It is a significant victory for him.” Mr Kalisto expressed his satisfaction with the outcome of Manchester City’s former defender, Mendy’s rape trial.
In the trial, the first plaintiff, age 29-year-old woman told the court that she had first met Mr Mendy in a nightclub in Barcelona in 2017. According to the woman, she became intimate with one of Mendy’s friends after that. The woman continued to tell the court that they stayed in touch with the footballer and after agreeing, a meet up with him, was scheduled alongside other girls. The next morning after the party, the woman told the court that Mr Mendy followed her to the bathroom unannounced and “aroused,” only wearing a boxer. She alleged that Mendy grabbed her and tried to rape her on the bed even after repeatedly saying no.
However, according to the former Man City fullback, the two had been “flirting” the before during the party, and the following day he went to her room, and they began hugging on the bed. He confirmed that the woman said they shouldn’t have sex because she was his friends’. However, Mendy told the jury she got upset after he told her that his friend had said it was “Ok.” The French international denied the claims that he tried to rape her.
“10,000 women”
The other complainant, a woman aged 24 years old, told the court that she was out with friends at a bar in Alderney Edge which is close to Mendy’s mansion, where they were invited back in 2019. She claimed that Mendy grabbed her phone, which had explicit images, and then led her to his locked bedroom as she continued to asked for her mobile phone. In the locked bedroom, she told the jury that the former fullback said he only wanted to have a look at her and instructed her to undress, which she did.
She continued to tell the jury that he threw her phone on the bed, and upon efforts to get it, the former Manchester City man raped her. This is despite her insisting that she didn’t want to have sex. Afterwards, the 24-year-old claimed that Mr Mendy told her he had sex with 10,000 women and that she was too shy.
Mr Aina, prosecuting, claimed that French international was not used to women telling him no. During the questioning, Aina asked Mr Mendy if he intended to invite women to his mansion to party, get them drunk, and have sex with them. Mendy replied only if the women consented to it, insisting that he would never, and has never, forced a woman to have sex with him.
Following the announcement of the verdict, Jenny Wiltshire, Mr Mendy’s solicitor, conveyed his satisfaction to the jury. She commended the jury members for focusing on the evidence presented during the trial rather than the rumours and theories surrounding the case. Ms Wiltshire emphasized that this was the second time the French international had faced trial and found not guilty. Miss Jenny concluded by saying that Mr Mendy had promised to be strong during the trial. Still, the hearing process had “inevitably had a serious impact on him,” and he wished for his private life to be respected to start rebuilding his life.