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Former Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has been acquitted of charges of raping a woman and attempting to rape another after a retrial at Chester Crown Court.
Mendy, 28, has now been found not guilty to all charges against him after being acquitted of seven other charges – six of rape and one of sexual assault – in January at the end of a five-month trial.
Earlier in the year, two lawsuits involving two women failed to reach a verdict, but it took a new jury around three hours and 15 minutes on Friday to unanimously find him not guilty.
Mendy wept as the jury foreman announced the verdicts, six months after his previous acquittals.
When Mendy left the court, he only said “alhamdulillah” – “Thank God”.
Jenny Wiltshire, head of serious and general crime at Hickman & Rose, told the attorneys who represented Mendy: “Benjamin Mendy would like to thank the members of the jury for focusing on the evidence and not on it in this trial Rumors and innuendos that have dogged this case from the start.
“This is the second time Mr Mendy has been tried and found not guilty by a jury. He is pleased that both juries came to the right verdicts.
“It has been almost three years since the police began investigating this matter. Mr Mendy has tried to stay strong, but the process has inevitably had a severe impact on him.
“He thanks everyone who has supported him through this ordeal and is now asking for privacy so he can begin rebuilding his life.”
Mendy left City at the end of his contract in June this year and had been suspended from the Premier League club without pay since he was arrested and remanded in custody in August 2021.
What was Benjamin Mendy accused of?
Benjamin Mendy was accused of eight counts of rape, one of attempted rape and sexual assault of seven women between October 2018 and August 2021.
He had been charged by Mrs One with attempted rape – a point on which the jury was unable to reach a verdict in the first trial. The woman met up with one of Mendy’s friends and after one night stayed at the footballer’s Cheshire mansion. She claimed he grabbed her and tried to rape her on a bed, but Mendy said he took a phone charger to her room and asked to have sex with her. According to Mendy, she declined, after which he said he asked his friend for permission and gave his blessing. That upset her, according to Mendy, and she left. On Friday he was found not guilty of attempted rape.
Ms. Two accused Mendy of three different types of rape after a night out in October 2020. Mendy was acquitted of two counts of rape and the jury couldn’t agree on the third count. He was acquitted of those charges on Friday.
Ms Three accused Mendy of sexually abusing her at a party at his Cheshire home on January 2, 2021 – the day before he was benched for Manchester City’s game against Chelsea. A series of Covid-19 infections in the squad had meant City’s last game against Everton had to be postponed. The woman had discussed suing City. In January he was found not guilty.
Ms. Four accused Mendy of raping her between his swimming pool and his cinema room on July 23, 2021. She went downstairs to change and Mendy said she followed her. The defense claimed she was “pulled into a situation” by police and told that giving testimony “would help the other girls.” Mendy said they had consensual sex. “We both enjoyed it.” Mendy was found not guilty of that charge in January.
Ms. Six and Ms. Seven both said they were raped by Mendy on July 24, 2021. Mendy was found not guilty in September of the allegations made by Ms Seven and on January 11 by Ms Six.
Ms Six told the court she attended a party at Mendy’s house before going upstairs to sleep, only to be woken up by the gambler, who she said raped her.
“She was up the whole time,” Mendy said, adding, “It wasn’t forced, we were both cool and it was more of a nice way.”
Several months before the alleged rape, the woman said she had sex with Mendy “like a one-night thing,” but added that she was sober and it was consensual at the time.
Mendy’s defense said Ms Six was pressured by police into claiming she had been raped.
The court heard that Ms Seven was invited to a pool party at Mendy’s house by her friend, Ms Six, before they went to a nightclub.
After returning to Mendy’s home in Cheshire, she recalled waking up on the sofa to find Mendy having sex with her. “I remember an escape attempt,” the court heard. “I was trying to get my hands back to front.”
Ms Seven was questioned about a video of her having “enthusiastic sex” with the other man and claiming she had been raped.
“You and he (the other man) filmed that sex, didn’t you?” defense attorney Lisa Wilding investigated KC.
“He had his phone in his hand right in front of you the entire time he and you were having sex?” defense attorney Eleanor Laws asked KC before being faced with another denial.
Ms Seven broke down in tears and insisted the sex had not been consensual before the judge called off cross-examination.
A few hours later, the case resumed and prosecutors, unaware that the video existed, told the jury that they would no longer be pursuing charges related to Ms. Sieben’s allegations.
Mendy during his first trial (Photo: Paul Ellis/AFP via Getty Images)
What happened in the first trial?
Mendy was unanimously found not guilty in January after 67 hours and 17 minutes of deliberation by the jury on seven counts – six of rape and one of sexual assault.
The first trial lasted five months and faced several delays. After the initial verdicts were rendered, Judge Steven Everett released the jury, thanking them for the “great willingness,” “patience,” and “perseverance” they had shown.
Mendy was on trial with a co-defendant who was found not guilty of three counts of rape.
Mendy had already been acquitted of other charges on a remarkable day in court last September when the video was played to the jury. Mendy was cleared of raping the same woman.
During the trial, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola acted as a character witness for Mendy, saying: “He’s a really good boy, I would say he’s so generous.” I think he’s happy and I remember when we were together and everyone asked for a favor and he could do it.”
Mendy admitted persistent unprofessionalism during his time as a City player, including holding multiple parties before practice and games, despite the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions that banned gatherings, and taking steps to disguise those parties after his club had imposed a fine. He also admitted to driving under the influence of alcohol.
His own defense attorney, Laws, called his behavior “appalling,” but said. “It’s not in his character to be the predatory monster that prosecutors think he is.”
Mendy said he’s “direct” with women: “I’d rather ask for sex after a few words than say, ‘Hi, can you meet up the next day?’, ‘Can you go on a date?'”
He was arrested twice before being remanded in custody in August 2021, and when asked if he felt he needed to change his behavior in light of this, he said: “It was fine for me. I knew I was going to be questioned by the police and that I was going to be arrested, but because I hadn’t done anything wrong in my head, I just kept going.”
After being found not guilty, Jenny Wiltshire, head of serious and general crime at Hickman & Rose, released a statement on Mendy’s behalf.
“He also thanks everyone who supported him and especially the witnesses who testified on his behalf in the face of this intense publicity.”
Why was there a second trial?
After these 67 hours and 17 minutes of deliberation, the jury was unable to reach a verdict on two points. One was an attempted rape and the other was a rape involving two different women.
With no sign of unanimous verdicts on all counts in sight, the judge had asked for charges, to which the jury agreed, and they duly submitted the seven counts. The judge then gave the jury two more days before asking them if they had reached a verdict on the remaining charges. When they weren’t, he asked if they were likely to be if they were given more time, and the answer was ‘no’.
After the jury was dismissed, Mendy listened as the prosecution made it clear that they would start a retrial.
The complication of the second trial was that the jury could not reach a verdict on the rape allegation, but had reached a verdict on two other counts of rape allegations involving the same woman.
Mendy had been acquitted of the oral and anal rape of the woman, but the jury couldn’t agree on an alleged vaginal rape. During the first trial, Mendy had admitted touching the woman’s vagina with his penis but denied penetrating her.
That was to be decided by a new jury in the second trial, which began June 26 in the same grand court number one at Chester Crown Court.
What happened in the second trial?
After being sworn in June 28, the jury listened to testimonies from Ms. One and Ms. Two before Mendy was proposed for cross-examination by the defense and prosecutors.
A key difference between the first and second proceedings is that the main prosecutor has changed.
In the first case, Timothy Cray KC represented the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). He was replaced for the retrial by Benjamin Aina KC.
During his cross-examination, Mendy admitted to having had unprotected sex “often” and said he enjoys intercourse with a wide variety of women.
Mendy also revealed that meeting women is “not difficult” given his status as a Premier League footballer.
At one point, Mr Aina asked Mendy if he “only wanted women who were interested in sex,” to which the 2018 world champion replied “yes.”
However, Mendy repeatedly denied that the sexual activity was not consensual – and the jury on the retrial agreed.
After the prosecution and defense had concluded their closing statements, Judge Everett, who also presided over the first trial, gave their conclusions on Thursday.
The jury was dispatched Friday morning to consider their verdicts. They returned just over three hours later and found the footballer not guilty on one count of attempted rape and one count of rape.
Is he still a Manchester City player?
In September 2021, Mendy was suspended by the city from paying his wages, which are estimated to be around £100,000 a week.
The ten-time France international, who turns 29 this week, remained under contract until June 30 when he was sacked by the club and is now a free agent.
City made no statement when his contract ended, instead the left-back was on a list of players not to be kept beyond the end of the month.
Mendy’s last appearance for the 2022/23 treble winners was a 1-0 away loss to Tottenham Hotspur on 15 August 2021. He also played in the Community Shield loss to Leicester City at Wembley a week earlier.
He joined City in 2017 from Monaco, France’s top division, Ligue 1, on a contract worth £52m ($68.1m at current exchange rates). For them he played 75 times in all competitions.
The city stopped paying Mendy’s wages in September 2021 (Picture: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
What now for Mendy?
Mendy is undoubtedly resuming parts of a playing career that has been on hold for over two and a half years.
At the end of the first trial, Laws, his lead counsel, said his “career in the UK is over, whatever the verdict” because he “can never get rid of the allegations”. She also urged the first panel of judges to “look for Ched Evans” when making her point.
Although he has been acquitted of all charges, much has come to light about Mendy’s party boy lifestyle and one would expect that to be enough to deter Premier League clubs from signing him.
However, Mendy has received a transfer interest but wanted to know the outcome of the retrial before any decision is made on his future.
The former City player stayed in shape and looked slimmer at the retrial.
Considering he’s a world and Premier League winner and still under 30, you’d expect a foreign club somewhere would be interested in signing him. At this point, the most obvious target – and that’s not based on fact – seems to be the Saudi Pro League or somewhere similar.
Can the prosecutor appeal?
No. The CPS website states: “If the defendant is found not guilty, we cannot appeal the verdict.
“That’s because the law doesn’t give us the right to appeal the jury’s decision.”
Did Mendy say anything about being found not guilty?
Mendy was asked several questions by the media as he left Chester Crown Court, from whether he will make a comeback to whether he feels he has been treated unfairly.
But all he said was “Alhamdulillah,” which translates to “Thank God.”
(Top Photo: Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)