The French international soccer player Benjamin Mendy was found innocent this Friday by the British justice of a crime of rape and one of attempted rape, half a year after being acquitted of seven other sexual crimes.
Mendy, 28, did not hold back her tears after hearing the verdict, which was taken after three weeks of trial, held in a court in Chester (northern England), after about three hours of deliberation by the jury.
The player, who was suspended by Manchester City and terminated his contract with the English and European champions on June 30, was accused of having raped a 24-year-old woman in October 2020 and of attempting to rape another 29-year-old woman. years. two years later.
In January, Mendy had been found not guilty of six crimes of rape and one of sexual assault, after five months of trial, but had to respond again to the courts, since the popular jury could not reach a verdict on the two crimes. now tested. .
During the trial, the player, who was a teammate of the Portuguese Rúben Dias, João Cancelo and Bernardo Silva at Manchester City, was presented by the Public Ministry as “a predator”, who abused “vulnerable and terrified” victims.
Mendy, who was arrested in August 2021 and spent more than four months in pretrial detention, denied being “a danger to women”, arguing that all the sexual interactions he was accused of were consensual.
Source: TSF
