Benjamin Mendy trial: woman denies turning sex with footballer’s co-accused into rape claim - court latest

A woman who claims she was raped by the friend and co-accused of footballer Benjamin Mendy has denied turning a normal sexual encounter into a rape allegation.

Manchester City defender Mendy, 28, and his friend Louis Saha Matturie, 41, are on trial and deny a series of rapes and sexual assaults on young women.

What was said in court?

Matturie is alleged to have told the then teenager he was a football agent and after a first date at Nando’s took her back to his flat in south Manchester and raped her, Chester Crown Court heard.

Matturie, then aged 31, had met the young woman while out clubbing in Manchester and they set up the date in the summer of 2012, not long after she turned 18.

The woman said she did not tell anyone about the alleged rape in 2012 until after seeing a news article in December 2021 about the arrest of the two defendants. She then went to the police.

The woman, under cross-examination from Lisa Wilding KC, defending Matturie, agreed that though she remembered some details, she could not recall the actual sex between them, which was a “blank” in her memory.

Ms Wilding put it to the witness that she could not recall how long sex lasted or what actually happened. Ms Wilding continued: “Just as the whole sex part has vanished from your memory, it’s vanished from his too.

“In other words, he has no recollection of having sex with you. If this happened, might it have been you gave every indication that you were willing and consenting to the sex that took place?” The witness replied: “Definitely not.”

Ms Wilding suggested the witness may have “gone along” with having sex which she later regretted. She continued: “And when you come to read the newspapers, that others had alleged rape or sexual offences against him, did you then turn normal and forgettable sex into a sexual allegation?” The woman replied: “No. Not at all. I know when I want to have sex with somebody or not.”

Is the trial running on Tuesday?

Mendy denies seven counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault against six young women. Matturie, of Eccles, Salford, denies six counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault relating to seven young women.

Both men say if any sex did take place it was consensual.The jury has now heard from all 13 complainants in the case. The trial will continue on Wednesday.