Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy entered pleas on Monday, May 23, 2022, for the first time in almost a year since his rape and sexual assault legal battle began.
Recall that Benjamin Mendy was first arrested for raping and sexually assaulting unidentified women in August 2021. After his arrest, he spent the rest of the year in prison as the court refused to grant him bail.
Following his arrest, it was revealed that Benjamin Mendy committed nine sexual offenses against six different women, one of which was said to be around 18-year-old.
The 27-year-old French left-back allegedly committed seven counts of rape, one count of sexual assault, and one count of attempted rape on the six women who tendered the complaints to the police separately.
Mendy who has been playing for Manchester City since 2017 after the Premier League club paid Monaco a whopping €57.50 million, allegedly committed all the sexual crimes at his home in Manchester.
Due to the crimes, Manchester City suspended him pending the outcome of the ongoing court proceedings and did not terminate the player’s contract which will expire on June 30, 2023.
Benjamin Mendy who was granted bail earlier in the year has also lost all his sponsorship deals due to the sexual crimes which could end his football career permanently if found guilty.
When Mendy stood in the dock at Chester Crown Court on Monday, May 23, all his crimes were read to him again and he responded to each of them with “not guilty”.
Afterward, he formally entered pleas just like his 40-year-old co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie who is facing eight counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault, relating to eight young women. Matturie allegedly committed all the aforementioned crimes between 2012 and 2021.
Both Mendy and Matturie denied all the allegations leveled against them ahead of the commencement of their trial on July 25. Ahead of the trial, Judge Steven Everett, the Honorary Recorder of Chester, has warned the press not to reveal the identities of the women involved in the legal battle.
Before Benjamin Mendy’s football career was forced to a halt, the 2018 FIFA World Cup winner with France national team, had played 75 games in all competitions in which he scored two goals and provided 14 assists.
Mendy helped Manchester City to win four Premier League titles, four league cups, one FA Cup, and one Community Shield before his ordeal started.
Benjamin Mendy has denied 9 sexual offences against 6 women.
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 23, 2022
The player has denied 7 counts of rape, 1 count of sexual assault and 1 count of attempted rape, all relating to 6 complaints which allegedly took place at his home address between October 2018 – August 2021. pic.twitter.com/ub2CdDlPqi
