Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been discovered not responsible of raping ladies at his gated Cheshire mansion.
A jury discovered that Mendy was not responsible of six counts of rape and one depend of sexual assault.
Jurors couldn’t attain verdicts on one depend of rape and one among tried rape, following a trial that started at Chester Crown Court in August.
The 28-year-old French worldwide defender had been known as a “predator” who “turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game” in court docket.
Mendy’s defence lawyer had known as on the jury to doubt the testimony of the ladies who accused the footballer of rape, saying: “These accusations, he will never escape… men who have been falsely accused, they never escape them.”
His good friend and co-accused Louis Saha Matturie, 41, was additionally discovered not responsible by the jury of three counts of rape relating to 2 youngsters.
Jurors additionally failed to succeed in verdicts on three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault in opposition to him by 5 different ladies.
Judge Steven Everett had earlier dominated that jurors may return a majority verdict within the trial.
He ended the trial by thanking jurors and excusing them from jury service for seven years.
Matthew Conway, prosecuting, mentioned a retrial shall be sought on the counts the jury couldn’t attain verdicts on.
He mentioned: “The prosecution has made a decision. We have made a decision today, which is to proceed on these counts in two separate trials and we seek today a provisional case management.”
Mendy’s lawyer mentioned he ‘looks forward’ to clearing his title at a retrial in June
(AFP/Getty)
A retrial for Mendy, at Chester, lasting two to 3 weeks has been set for 26 June – with a pre-trial listening to on 27 January.
Earlier, Judge Everett introduced jurors again into court docket and requested if they’d attain additional verdicts if given extra time.
The foreman of the jury replied: “No. We are at a point now where we can’t agree.”
Judge Everett informed them: “It is not unusual that jurors don’t reach verdicts on some counts. You have to be true to your duty.”
Mendy is “delighted” to have been cleared of intercourse assaults on 4 ladies and “looks forward” to clearing his title at a retrial over two different allegations and “rebuilding his life”, his lawyer mentioned.
Jenny Wiltshire, of Hickman & Rose, mentioned: “My client Benjamin Mendy would like to thank the members of the jury for their dedication and commitment.
“He also thanks everyone who supported him, and particularly the witnesses who gave evidence on his behalf in the glare of such intense publicity.”
She mentioned he was “delighted that he has been unanimously acquitted” of many of the costs he confronted.
Prosecutors mentioned that Matturie, the footballer’s good friend and fixer, had the job of discovering younger ladies for intercourse.
The court docket heard that Mendy met lots of the ladies in Manchester nightclubs earlier than he and Matturie introduced them again to his mansion for after-parties.
Louis Matturie was Mendy’s ‘fixer’, the trial heard
(Getty)
Some of the ladies had their telephones taken off them on arrival on the home, and the closest village, Prestbury, was a 15-minute stroll away alongside an unlit lane, the court docket heard.
Both males mentioned that any intercourse that came about was consensual.
During the trial, Mendy was discovered not responsible of 1 depend of rape on the course of the decide after a video emerged of the complainant having “enthusiastic sex” with Matturie, after she had claimed to have been raped by him.
Matturie was cleared of two counts of rape and one among sexual assault in opposition to the identical ladies after the prosecution provided no additional proof in opposition to the defendants.
A press release from Mendy’s membership mentioned: “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.”
