French footballer Benjamin Mendy was found not guilty of rape and attempted rape by a British court on Friday, five months after being acquitted of six counts of rape and one of sexual assault.
Benjamin Mendy, 28, broke down in tears as the verdict was delivered at the end of a three-week trial in Chester, northern England. The jury reached its verdict after just over three hours of deliberation.
The player had been on trial again since the end of June on two counts on which the jury had not reached an agreement at the end of the first trial.
He had been charged with the rape of a 24-year-old woman in October 2020 and the attempted rape of another 29-year-old woman two years earlier, charges he vehemently denied.
“Benjamin Mendy wants to thank the members of the jury for having bet on the evidence of this trial in addition to the rumors and insinuations that accompanied this case from the beginning”, declared the player’s lawyers at the end of the verdict, highlighting the “serious impact” that this process had on him.
Benjamin Mendy chose not to speak when questioned by journalists present at the scene.
Goodbye to Manchester City
The left-back, with ten appearances for the French national team, had been suspended by Manchester Citywhich did not renew the contract that expired on June 30.
Mendy denied the allegations and insisted he was “not a danger to women”. Before the trial, he said he hoped to “clear” her name “to start rebuilding” her life.
During the first process, after four months of hearing, the jury, made up of eight men and four women, had withdrawn to deliberate on December 5th. Discussions were interrupted several times: first, due to cases of covid-19, and then due to a planned break, before another break during the year-end holiday period.
Benjamin Mendy was arrested in August 2021 and spent more than four months in pre-trial detention, before being released in early January 2022 and placed under judicial control awaiting his first trial.
Revealed in Le Havre, the player stood out at Olympique Marseille and later at Monaco. He became the most expensive defender in history in 2017 when the “Citizens” shelled out £52m to sign him.
Source: Gazetaesportiva
Kingston is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
