Former Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been declared not guilty of raping a woman and attempting to rape another. Mendy, who was accused of attacking a 24-year-old woman at his £4m mansion in Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire in October 2020, as well as being charged with the attempted rape of a 29-year-old woman at his home two years earlier, has been acquitted of all charges. The 28-year-old defender, who denied the allegations and claimed that the encounters were consensual, was found not guilty by a jury of six men and six women at Chester Crown Court on July 14.
These acquittals mark a significant turning point for Mendy, as he has now been cleared of all the allegations made against him by six women, which had a detrimental impact on his football career. The women had accused him of assaulting them at his £4.8m gated mansion between October 2018 and August 2021, often during illegal parties held amid Covid lockdowns. In January, Mendy was cleared of raping four women and sexually assaulting another, with the jury being unable to reach verdicts on two outstanding charges, leading to a retrial.
During the three-week trial at Chester Crown Court in northwest England, Mendy faced the possibility of a life sentence if found guilty. However, the 2018 World Cup winner, who claimed to have slept with over 10,000 women, is now free to move forward with his life. As the jury foreman delivered the verdicts, Mendy broke down in tears, sinking to his seat with his head on his knees and wiping away tears with a tissue.
Despite being the Premier League's most expensive defender when Manchester City acquired him for £52m from Monaco in 2017, Mendy's career trajectory took a sharp downturn. He won three titles with City and was part of France's World Cup-winning squad in 2018. However, his last appearance for City was against Tottenham Hotspur in August 2021, after which he was suspended by the club when he was arrested in connection with the rape charges. City subsequently released him when his contract expired the following month.
