LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP
Footballer Benjamin Mendy, who has been indicted in England on numerous charges of sexual violence, has been found not guilty of six counts of rape.
SEXUAL VIOLENCE – It’s widely whitewashed. Footballer Benjamin Mendy, who has been convicted since August 10 on multiple allegations of sexual violence, learned this Friday, January 13, that he was found “not guilty” to six of the seven rapes for which he was on trial had been. An allegation of “sexual assault” was also swept away by the people’s jury.
On the other hand, the jury in this trial, which took place at Chester Crown Court, near Manchester, failed on two other counts (rape and attempted rape) against the man who was the “most expensive defender” in football at the time.
The prosecutor has indicated that he will request a new trial on the last two charges. Judge Steven Everett announced a second trial to begin June 26. The now 28-year-old France international, who has been suspended from his club Manchester City for more than a year, risked a life sentence in this first high-profile trial in England.
“He can’t wait to clear his name” so he can “start rebuilding his life,” his attorney Jenny Wiltshire said. Benjamin Mendy is “delighted” to have been “unanimously” acquitted of most of the charges against him, she added.
Four months in jail and bail
It should be noted that Louis Saha Matturie (no relation to former footballer Louis Saha), the alleged “thug” who introduced Benjamin Mendy to the young women, was found not guilty of three counts of rape. However, the jury could not rule on six other charges. In all, he and Mendy were accused by 13 women.
At the hearing, prosecutors portrayed Benjamin Mendy as a “predator” who abused “vulnerable, frightened and isolated” victims. The footballer denied having been “a danger to women” and claimed he only had consensual sex.
The 2018 world champion with the French team, where he came on as a substitute, was arrested at the end of August 2021 and spent more than four months in custody. Released on bail in early January 2022, he was placed under judicial supervision pending trial. Trained at Le Havre, uncovered in Marseille and spent a season at Monaco, Benjamin Mendy became the most expensive defender in history in 2017 when Citizens paid £52m (around €61.4m at current rates) to secure his services .
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