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Premier League footballer Benjamin Mendy was acquitted of sexual assault on four women after a six-month trial as prosecutors sought a retrial on two other allegations.
Sitting on the docks of Chester Crown Court, the 28-year-old Manchester City star presided over the verdict in a quiet courtroom, covering his face with his hands and gently rocking it back and forth as he pleaded “not guilty” to six counts. ‘ repeated. Rape involving four young women or a woman in her teenage years and he committed one sexual assault.
A unanimous verdict was handed down Wednesday by a jury of seven men and four women, with one juror discharged early for health reasons.
The verdict could not be reported until after the jury had been given the majority order by Judge Stephen Everett, and had considered the remaining two counts to come to a conclusion.
However, after 14 days of deliberation, the jury will reach a verdict on Mendy’s alleged attempt to rape a 29-year-old woman in 2018 and rape of another 24-year-old woman in October 2020. was not possible.
Judge Everett dismissed the jury on Friday, ending the trial.
Louis Saha Machry, 41, was acquitted by a jury in three rape cases involving two teenagers.
The jury also did not reach a verdict on three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault by five other women.
The two have been on trial since August 10 and were charged with multiple sexual offenses by 13 women.
Prosecutor Matthew Conway said the prosecution would seek a new trial on the counts on which the jury was unable to reach a verdict.
He said: “The prosecution has made a decision. We made a decision today, which is to proceed with these counts in two separate trials, and today the Interim Case Management ask for”.
The allegations and trials were “absolute hell” for Mendy, and the court said his football career was “finished” because he would “never escape” the charges.
Mendy is a “predator” who turned chasing women for sex into a game before inviting young women into “toxic and dangerous” situations after drinking champagne in the VIP area of ​​a Manchester nightclub. was accused of having In his £4.7 million Cheshire mansion in Mottram St. Andrew, near Prestbury.
But the jury said from defense counsel that the trial involving money, sex and celebrities had “all the ingredients of good drama” but with a significant “plot twist” – the accused was innocent. .
The court heard that lockdown parties were held at both Mendy’s home and the apartment she rented on Chapel Street near Manchester city centre.
In November 2020, he was first arrested for allegedly raping a 24-year-old woman three times in his home the previous month.
Mendy was released under investigation and on police bail on the charges before being accused of sexually assaulting another 24-year-old woman two months later, but was later charged with three other crimes. women, one 17 years old, were accused of rape. which he cleared.
Mendy was suspended by the club in August 2021 after being charged with rape.
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