French full-back Benjamin Mendy cleared of raping charges

Earlier this year Mendy was found not guilty of sexual offences against several women

Former Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy was found not guilty of raping a woman back in 2020.

The 28-year-old was accused of attacking a 24-year-old woman at his mansion in Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire in October 2020.

He was also accused of attempted rape of another woman aged 29. It was also reported that Benjamin Mendy molested her at his home two years before.

Earlier this year, Mendy was cleared of six rape charges.

After the jury foreman read out that Benjamin Mendy was not guilty, the Frenchman broke down in tears. The trial was held for three weeks at Chester Crown Court.

The jury of six men and six women deliberated for about three hours and 15 minutes before reaching their conclusion.

Judge Steven Everett said: "Mr Mendy can be discharged from the dock."

Benjamin Mendy's contract ended with City in June 2023. He was cleared at the earlier trial of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, relating to four young women or teenagers.

At his retrial, prosecutors said Mendy would host parties and social gatherings at his home The Spinney while under contract at Manchester City.

The court heard Mendy had met a British student in a nightclub in Barcelona in 2017. She became close with a friend of Mendy's and arranged to visit him at the footballer's home the following year. After a night out she alleged Mendy tried to rape her.

But the footballer told the jury: "I asked her if we are OK to have sex. She told me, 'No' because of my friend. "I was like, 'It's fine, my friend says it's OK, so if you want, he's OK with that. It's when she started to be like that - upset, sad. I just left the room."

Two years later, a woman was out with friends at a bar near Mendy's home when they were invited back to the footballer's house.

She alleged he took her phone from her and led her to a locked bedroom. Mendy threw the phone onto a bed and, as she went to retrieve it, Mendy is alleged to have raped her.

Benjamin Mendy told the jury the two had a consensual sexual encounter and later swapped details on Snapchat.

He was asked whether he had held her down or forced her onto the bed. He said: "No."

He told the jury: "I will never force to have sex with a woman."

After leaving court, Benjamin Mendy's solicitor Jenny Wiltshire said in a statement: "Benjamin Mendy would like to thank the members of the jury for focusing on the evidence of this trial, rather than the rumour and innuendo that have followed this case from the outset.

"This is the second time Mr Mendy has been tried and found not guilty by the jury. He is delighted that both jurors reached the correct verdict."