Benjamin Mendy: ex-Manchester City footballer found not guilty of rape

Former France and Manchester City left-back Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of rape and attempted rape at his home in Cheshire. The 28-year-old had been accused of carrying out sex attacks on two women at his £4 million mansion.

The French international has been found not guilty of attempting to rape a 29-year-old woman who stayed overnight at his property in October 2018 and not guilty of raping a different woman, who was reportedly aged 24, in a Covid-era party at the same address in October 2020.

The news comes after he was cleared of six rapes at an earlier trial in January. Mendy denied the two charges and claimed both sexual encounters were consensual. The jury of six men and six women deliberated for three hours and 15 minutes before reaching their conclusion.

Mendy broke down in tears as the guilty verdicts were read out by the jury foreman following a three-wek trial. The Judge, Steven Everett, said: “Mr Mendy can be discharged from the dock.”