Following a six-month trial, Premier League player Benjamin Mendy was found not guilty of sexually assaulting four women, despite the prosecution’s request for a new trial on two additional charges.
The Manchester City player, 28, covered his face with both hands while sitting in the dock at Chester Crown Court and rocked back and forth slightly as the jury foreman read the verdicts to six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault involving four young women or teenagers.
The seven men and four women on the jury, one of whom had already been excused for medical reasons, delivered their unanimous verdicts on Wednesday.
Jurors were given a majority direction by Judge Steven Everett, who stated that he would accept a verdict of 10-1 as long as they had finished deliberating the other two counts.
However, after 14 days of deliberation, the jury was unable to reach a decision regarding Mendy’s alleged attempts to rape a woman, age 29, in 2018 and a second woman, age 24, in October 2020.
On Friday, Judge Everett released the jury, bringing an end to the trial.
His co-defendant and purported “fixer,” Louis Saha Matturie, 41, was found not guilty of three counts of rape involving two teenagers by the jury.
Three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault brought against him by five other women were also dismissed by the jury.
Since August 10, both have been on trial for multiple sexual offenses alleged by 13 women.
According to prosecutor Matthew Conway, the prosecution will ask for a new trial on the counts where the jury could not reach a verdict.
He said: “A choice has been made by the prosecution. We have decided to move forward with these counts in two separate trials, and we are now asking for a provisional case management.”
Mendy’s life in football “is over” as he would “never escape” the allegations, the court heard, and the accusations and trial had been “absolute hell” for him.
Mendy was charged with being a “predator” who turned pursuing women for sex into a game, according to testimony at his trial. It was claimed that Mendy would sip champagne in the VIP areas of nightclubs in Manchester before luring young women into “toxic and dangerous” situations at “after-parties” at his £4.7 million Cheshire mansion in Mottram St. Andrew, close to Prestbury.
Defense attorneys also told the jury that while the case involved money, sex, and celebrity and had “all the makings of a good drama,” there was a major “plot twist” in that the defendants were innocent.
Both Mendy’s residence and an apartment he rented on Chapel Street close to Manchester’s city center hosted lockdown-busting events, the court heard.
Following the alleged triple rape of the 24-year-old woman at his home the month before, he was first detained in November 2020.
Two months after being released under investigation, Mendy was accused of sexually assaulting a second woman, who was 24 years old. While out on police bail for that offense, Mendy was also later accused of raping three other women, one of whom was 17 years old. He was cleared in all cases.
Following his rape charge, Mendy was suspended by his club in August 2021.
