Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of raping a 19-year-old woman on the instructions of a judge presiding over a trial for multiple alleged sex offences.
His co-accused, 41-year-old Louis Saha Maturi, was also acquitted of two counts of rape and sexual assault charges against the same woman, as prosecutors produced no further evidence against the defendants in those four cases. was.
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Judge Stephen Everett warned jurors at Chester Crown Court in north-west England not to speculate as to why prosecutors chose not to pursue a guilty verdict on those charges and to try “sincerely” on those charges. continued, which they are still facing.
Earlier, jurors were told about a private video of the woman, described as having “enthusiastic” sex with Maturi, after she claimed she was raped.
The 20-minute mobile phone video was taken by Maturi on August 1 last year, the court heard, a week after the two men allegedly raped the same woman at the footballer’s mansion on the same night.
The woman told the jury that Maturi sexually assaulted her for the second time in a flat on August 1, 2021, after clubbing in Manchester.
Defending Maturi, Lisa Wilding suggested that what happened between them was “consensual, willing and enthusiastic” sex, not rape, the court heard.
The woman denied this, claiming that the incident made her feel “shamed and disgusted”.
Wilding said: “I have to ask you to look at some of the images.”
The hearing was adjourned and when court resumed after lunch, prosecutor Timothy Cray said the prosecution was no longer seeking a guilty verdict on the alleged sex offenses involving the 19-year-old complainant.
The jurors were then directed to file non-guilty judgments against the defendants.
The rape charge against 28-year-old Mendy was dropped a week before the incident with Maturi, when the woman alleged that she woke up at Mendy’s house after a night out clubbing that the footballer raped her.
The same night, on July 24 last year, Maturi was also accused of raping her, according to DNA evidence, but she has “no recollection” of it, the court heard. That count too was dropped.
Prosecutors have accused France of World Cup winner Mendy is a “hunter” who “turned women’s quest for sex into a game”.
Mendy is still facing seven counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and six counts of sexual assault against young women.
Maturi, the footballer’s friend and fixer, was reportedly tasked with finding young women for sex.< /p>
Maturi still denies three counts of rape and three of sexual assault in six cases involving seven young women.
Both men say that if there was any sex with the women, it was consensual.
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Mendy joined Premier League champion City from French side Monaco in 2017.
He has played 75 times for the club but his playing time was limited by injuries and loss of form.
He was suspended by Citi after being charged by police in August last year.
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