Benjamin Mendy found not guilty of six counts of rape

General Chat In The News
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The trial of Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy is “another chapter in a very old story” of rape and sexual assault on women, a jury has heard. The 28-year-old is accused of eight counts of rape, one of attempted rape and one of sexual assault.

Opening the case, Timothy Cray QC said it had “very little to do with football” and was more about men who “think they are powerful”. He said the alleged victims were “disposable” to Mr Mendy.

Chester Crown Court heard the offences against seven young women are alleged to have taken place at Mr Mendy’s home between October 2018 and August 2021.

The French international, of Prestbury, Cheshire, is on trial alongside co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie, 41. The pair deny all the allegations.

Mr Cray said: “It is another chapter in a very old story: men who rape and sexually assault women, because they think they are powerful, and because they think they can get away with it. These women were disposable: things to be used for sex, then thrown to one side. That was the effect of deliberate, planned choices the defendants made, and the desires they let loose many times.”

Mr Cray said Mr Saha was his friend and fixer, and he would “find young women and to create the situations where those young women could be raped and sexually assaulted. The acts that the defendants did together show callous indifference to the women they went after. In their minds, and this could not be clearer, the stream of women they brought to their homes existed purely to be pursued for sex.”

A French interpreter was also present in the dock to assist the defendants during the trial, which is expected to last for 15 weeks.

Some trial … :open_mouth:

Nevertheless, it’s about time that over-paid, over here and over-sexed oafs were brought to book and handed long prison sentences away from “the beautiful game”. If the prosecution’s assertion is true then these men are predators and should be caged … :angry:

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I was reading yesterday that there is a trend online for these so-called “Alpha Males” to spread the word about the “vacuous vessels” that women are.

Sorry, off topic. Misogyny gets me so annoyed.

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… and so it should … :+1:

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Hi

Sorry to be blunt but don’t these ladies and the two Ryan Giggs abused have male family members?

Perhaps this is just a Yorkshire thing?

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The 28-year-old French international defender abused his wealth and fame to lure women back to his gated Cheshire home and rape them when they either said no or were too drunk to consent, a jury at Chester crown court heard on Monday.

The alleged offences by Mendy are said to have taken place at his gated mansion in the hamlet of Mottram St Andrew, near Macclesfield, between October 2018 and 2021. The nearest village, Prestbury, was a 15-minute walk along an unlit country lane, the jury heard.

Some of the women told police they had their phones taken off them on arrival. Ostensibly this was to protect Mendy and others from unwanted social media intrusion but it also left them unable to call for help.

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I think it is as illegal in Yorkshire, as anywhere else in the country, to administer your own punishment Swim.
I have no idea if these men are guilty of the crime, but if the court find them guilty they will be punished.

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Benjamin Mendy, 28, denies seven counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault

Jurors in the trial of rape-accused footballer Benjamin Mendy have retired to consider their verdicts.

The Manchester City footballer and his friend Louis Saha Matturie, 41, have been on trial at Chester Crown Court since 10 August, accused of various sex offences against young women.

Prosecutors claim Mr Mendy, 28, was a “predator” who turned the pursuit of women into a “game”.

Both men deny all offences and say any sex with women was consensual.

Judge Steven Everett, the Recorder of Chester, told the eight men and four women on the jury that if verdicts had not been reached this week, with the court not sitting on Friday or the following week, they will come back to court on 19 December to continue deliberations.

“There is no pressure of time,” he added. “Don’t feel under any pressure.”

The prosecution claim a number of young women were raped or sexually assaulted during post-nightclubbing “after parties” at Mr Mendy’s £4.7m home near Prestbury in Cheshire and at a Manchester flat.

Mr Matturie is alleged to have been the footballer’s “fixer”, who arranged for women to attend the parties after nights spent drinking in VIP lounges at Manchester nightclubs.

Mr Mendy told the jury he now regretted his partying lifestyle, but denied ever forcing any woman into sex.

Thirteen women had accused the defendants of sexual offences.

Mr Mendy denies seven counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault against six women.

Mr Matturie, of Eccles, Salford, denies six counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault relating to seven women.

That’s been a long trial … and the jury may be a long time deliberating, too … :open_mouth:

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I shall NEVER understand why women go back to these peoples homes in the first place.
What were they expecting ?,a three course meal for gods sake.
I think the £ sign is on their minds.
You do not put yourself in possible dangerous situations,unless you are asking for it.

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The jury has been deliberating for 12 days.

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Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault against four young women. The jury failed to reach verdicts on one count of rape and one of attempted rape and a retrial will take place.

Louis Saha Matturie, 41, was also found not guilty of three counts of rape against two teenagers.

Jurors at Chester Crown Court could not reach verdicts on six other counts by five other women.

Lawyers for both men argued each allegation was “riddled with inconsistencies and flaws”.

Lisa Wilding KC, representing Mr Matturie, told jurors it was “chillingly easy” to make false allegations and suggested all the women involved were in some way connected through friendships, social media or by attending parties.

Defending Mr Mendy, Eleanor Laws KC, suggested that “regret” at having “quick, animalistic sex” was not the same as being raped.

Jurors were told not to take a “moralistic” approach to the defendants’ sexual lifestyles. Lockdown-busting parties were held both at Mr Mendy’s home and an apartment he rented on Chapel Street near Manchester city centre, the court heard.

The unanimous not guilty verdicts were delivered on Wednesday by the seven men and four women on the jury, one juror having been discharged earlier for medical reasons.

The verdicts could not be reported until jurors concluded considering the remaining two counts, after they were given a majority direction by Judge Steven Everett, meaning he would accept a 10-1 majority on any verdict.

But after 14 days of deliberation, jurors could not reach verdicts on Mr Mendy’s alleged attempted rape of a woman, 29, in 2018 and the alleged rape of another woman, 24, in October 2020.

The jury failed to reach a verdict on three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault against Mr Matturie.

Judge Everett discharged the jury on Friday, ending the trial.

Mr Mendy’s lawyer said he was “delighted” to have been cleared of sex attacks on four women and looked forward to clearing his name at a retrial over two other allegations and “rebuilding his life”.

How on earth can a trial last so long (six months) if the evidence cannot support the charges … :017:

The cost to the tax-payer must be enormous and the effect on the accused must be profound … :open_mouth: