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French international Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, but still faces trial on two outstanding charges.
Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been cleared of a number of charges in his ongoing rape and sexual assault case.
The 28-year-old France international has been facing trial for the past six months, and has been cleared of seven of the nine charges against him, after the jury at Chester Crown Court were unable to reach verdicts on two other charges on Friday, January 13, 2023 as per MailSport.
Mendy's friend Louis Saha Matturie, 41, was also accused of various sex offences against young women and was found not guilty of three counts of rape.
Mendy reportedly covered his face with both hands while he sat in a hushed courtroom, gently rocking back and forth, as the jury foreman repeated "not guilty" to the six counts related to four young women or teenagers.
The unanimous verdicts were delivered on Wednesday by the seven men and four women on the jury, one juror having been discharged earlier for medical reasons.
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It was revealed 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.
The jury was discharged by Judge Everett on Friday after more than 60 hours of deliberations over 14 days.
Mendy is also due for another trial scheduled to take place on June 26 following discussions with lawyers.
Manchester City release official statement on Benjamin Mendy
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Following the latest verdict on Friday, a statement from Man City read: "Manchester City FC notes the verdict from Chester Crown Court today, where a jury has found Benjamin Mendy not guilty of seven charges. The jury is hung on two charges and the trial is now over.
"Given there are open matters related to this case, the club is not in a position to comment further at this time."
Manchester City suspended Mendy when he was arrested in August 2021 and stopped paying him in September 2021.
The 28-year-old French left-back who was signed by the Premier League club for a reported £52m from AS Monaco in 2017, is also set to see his contract expire this summer.
Benjamin Mendy Trial Timeline
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Lawyers are reportedly discussing dates for future hearings and a trial possibly in June.
The trial, due to start last January, lasted nearly six months, with the jury of eight men and four women hearing a string of alleged sex crimes against 13 original complainants.
Mendy had been accused of being a 'predator' who turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game, his trial heard, drinking champagne in VIP areas of Manchester nightclubs before inviting young women into 'toxic and dangerous' situations at 'after-parties' at his £4.7 million Cheshire mansion in Mottram St Andrew, near Prestbury.
Timothy Cray KC, one of the prosecutors, said Matturie, known as Saha, was Mendy's 'friend and fixer' and used a £2,000-a month rented flat in Salford to hold parties.
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Mendy also reportedly paid him £17,000 for his services over the course of a year as per DailyMail.
Mr Cray said that Saha Matturie's job was to find young women for Mendy and 'to create the situations where they could be raped and abused.'
He was first arrested in November 2020 after the alleged triple rape of a 24-year-old woman at his home the previous month.
Mendy was released under investigation before he was later accused of sexually assaulting another woman, aged 24, two months later, and while on police bail for that offence, was later accused of the rape of three other women, one aged 17 - all offences of which he was cleared.
Mendy was suspended by his club in August 2021, after he was charged with rape.
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Mendy had denied seven counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault against six young women, between October 2018 and August 2021.
While Matturie, of Eccles, Salford, denied six counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault relating to seven young women, between July 2012 and August 2021.
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