Mendy was cleared of six counts of rape and one of sexual assault
Benjamin Mendy will be back on trial in June facing one count of rape and one of attempted rape.
The Manchester City footballer was found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault earlier this week, following a six-month trial at Chester Crown Court.
Jurors could not, however, reach verdicts on one count of rape and one of attempted rape against the 28-year-old.
The prosecution sought a retrial on those counts and it has been scheduled for 26 June, the BBC reported.
Mendy’s co-accused, Louis Saha Matturie, 41, was also found not guilty of three counts of rape. Jurors failed to reach verdicts on three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault against him.
Mendy and Matturie had been accused of raping and women at the player’s home in Prestbury, Cheshire, and at a Manchester flat with the offences alleged to have taken place between October 2018 and August of last year.
Prosecutors told the jury Mendy was a “predator” who turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game.
The unanimous verdicts were delivered on Wednesday but 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 Mendy’s alleged attempted rape of a woman, 29, in 2018 and the alleged rape of another woman, 24, in October 2020.
The jury was discharged on Friday, as the trial was concluded.
A statement from Manchester City said: “Given there are open matters related to this case, the club is not in a position to comment further at this time.”
The allegations and trial had been “absolute hell” for Mr Mendy, the court heard, with his life in football “over” as he would “never escape” the accusations.
Mendy had denied seven counts of rape against four women, one count of attempted rape alleged by a fifth woman and one count of sexual assault against a sixth.
Matturie had denied six counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault. The allegations related to seven women.
Related links:
- Benjamin Mendy found not guilty of six counts of rape
- Benjamin Mendy jury don’t have to all agree on the verdict, judge rules
- Mendy told rape victim ‘don’t worry, it’s small’, court hears
- Ferland and Edouard Mendy slam media outlets for using their images in Benjamin Mendy story
