Former Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of raping one woman and attempting to rape another, following a retrial at Chester Crown Court. The 28-year-old French defender wept as the jury delivered its verdict on Friday, clearing him of the two remaining charges.
The acquittals mean Mendy has now been found not guilty of all allegations made against him by six women, which derailed his football career. His contract with Manchester City expired at the end of June, and the club stopped paying him in September 2021 after he was charged. Despite this, manager Pep Guardiola testified as a character witness at his first trial, describing Mendy as a “really good boy”.
Mendy was accused of assaulting women at his £4.8m gated mansion in Prestbury, Cheshire, between October 2018 and August 2021, often during illegal parties held during Covid lockdowns. He was cleared in January of raping four women and sexually assaulting another, but the jury could not reach verdicts on two charges, leading to the retrial.
In the retrial, Mendy was acquitted of attempting to rape a woman who came to his house with a friend, and of raping another woman he met at a bar in Alderley Edge. He maintained that all sexual encounters were consensual, telling the jury that being a famous footballer made it “honestly, so easy” to meet women. He admitted not wearing condoms and said he did not worry about sexually transmitted diseases.
Mendy was first arrested in November 2020 and later charged in August 2021 after a 17-year-old accused him of rape. He was remanded in custody until his trial. After the verdict, his lawyer said Mendy now seeks privacy to “rebuild his life”.
