Ex-Manchester City star, Benjamin Mendy weeps as he’s cleared of raping woman after re-trial, leaving him a free man but without a club.
Benjamin Mendy, a former Manchester City and France footballer, broke down in tears on Friday after a UK jury cleared him of sex charges, bringing a three-year court battle to an end.
Mendy, 28, wiped away tears as he heard the decision at Chester Crown Court in northwest England at the end of a three-week trial.
The jury of six men and six women deliberated for almost three hours and fifteen minutes before returning not guilty verdicts on one count of rape and another of attempted rape.
The star player, who risked a significant prison sentence if convicted, was earlier exonerated in January of six counts of rape and one of sexual assault after a six-month trial.
But jurors in that trial had been unable to reach a verdict on two other counts resulting in a retrial.
Mendy, whose contract with Manchester City expired at the end of June, had denied all the charges against him.
He was accused alongside Louis Saha Matturie, 41, an alleged “fixer”, who was found not guilty by the jury at the earlier trial of three counts of rape relating to two teenagers.
Mendy, on the other hand, denied ever pushing any woman into sex, and both claimed that any sexual contact they had with women was consensual.
Mendy was a record signing for a defender when he joined Manchester City from French club Monaco in 2017.
However, injuries and a loss of form limited his playing time.
After winning the World Cup with France in 2018, he received his tenth and last cap in November 2019.
The trials meant that he missed Manchester City’s treble last season of the English Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.
The footballer’s lawyers said in a statement after the verdict that he was “delighted” to have been acquitted in both trials.
“Benjamin Mendy would like to thank the members of the jury for focusing on the evidence in this trial rather than the rumour and innuendo that has followed this case from the outset,” they added.
“This is the second time that Mr Mendy has been tried and found not guilty by a jury. He is delighted that both juries reached the correct verdicts.
“It has been almost three years since the police started investigating this matter. Mr Mendy has tried to remain strong but the process has, inevitably had a serious impact on him.
“He thanks everyone who has supported him throughout this ordeal and now asks for privacy so he can begin rebuilding his life.”
