Mendy Found Not Guilty Of Six Counts of Rape

Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy was found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

After a six-month trial at the court, jurors were unable to decide on one count of rape and one count of attempted rape which means Benjamin Mendy is still innocent of all the charges.

Retrial on those counts was requested by the prosecution, and it was set for June 26.

During his trial, Attorneys explained to the jury that the chase of women for sex became a game for Mr. Mendy, a “predator.”

The trial involved money, sex, and celebrity, in which the defense attorneys continued to stress to the jury that there was a key “plot twist” in that the defendants were innocent.

In response to the jury, Mendy repeatedly pleaded “not guilty” regarding the six counts, which involved four young girls or adolescents.

Naija News recalls that Benjamin Mendy was initially detained in November 2020, then in August 2021, after being accused of rape, his club suspended him.

Also cleared on three counts of rape was Mendy’s “fixer”, 41-year-old Louis Saha Matturie.

On three rape and three sexual assault charges against him, the jury was unable to reach a judgment.

The seven men and four women who made up the jury, one of whom had to be excused earlier due to illness, rendered their unanimous decisions on Wednesday.

Judge Steven Everett gave the jury a majority direction, which meant that he would accept a verdict with a 10-1 majority. The verdicts could not be announced until the jury had finished deliberating the final two counts.

Jurors were unable to reach a judgment regarding Mr. Mendy’s alleged attempted rape of a woman, 29, in 2018 and accused rape of a second woman, 24, in October 2020 after 14 days of deliberation.

Friday marked the trial’s conclusion as Judge Everett released the jury.

Since August 10th, both men had been on trial for a total of 13 sexual offenses.

“Given there are outstanding matters linked to this case, the club is not in a position to comment further at this time,” read a statement from Manchester City.