Benjamin Mendy told an alleged victim that he wanted to kidnap her the night before he allegedly attempted to rape her and he boasted to another woman whom he is accused of raping that he had slept with 10,000 females, the jury in the footballer’s retrial has heard.
Mendy, 28, denies one count of attempted rape, alleged to have taken place in October 2018, and another of vaginal rape in October 2020. The jury of six men and six women at Chester Crown Court have been informed by Judge Steven Everrett this is a retrial and Mendy was acquitted of a number of charges.
In his opening statement on Thursday afternoon Mr Benjamin Aina KC, representing the crown, told the jury that in relation to the first incident, alleged to have occurred in October 2018, Mr Mendy walked in on the woman while she showered at his home following a night out in Cheshire.
The jury heard that Mendy and the alleged victim had been out with a friend whom the woman had consensually engaged in sexual relations with. During dinner, Mr Aina KC told the jury, Mendy said to the woman, “When he's not looking, I'm gonna kidnap you” and she replied, "No, you're not." They returned to his Cheshire home to continue socialising and the woman spent the night in a spare bedroom with Mendy’s friend.
But the following morning the French footballer allegedly attempted to rape the woman after walking in on her while she showered.
Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy arrives at Chester Crown Court (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)Mr Aina KC told the jury: “She was in shock. She reached for a towel. As she walked into the bedroom with a towel on, Mr Mendy followed her. She got underwear from her bag but Mr Mendy snatched it from her hand. She reached for her bra, Mr Mendy snatched it from out of her hand.
“He sat on the bed, took hold of her and sat her on top of him. He was saying, ‘I like it when you speak French.’ He said, ‘You don’t have to be scared, I just want to feel you, I’m not going to do anything to you, I’m not going to put it in or anything.'
Mendy is then alleged to have attempted to rape her before leaving the room after she repeatedly asked him to stop.
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The second alleged victim said that she was raped by Mendy at his home in October 2020 after meeting the footballer while out with friends at a bar in Alderley Edge.
Mr Aina KC told the jury that the women “were given the address and drove to Mr Mendy’s home” but upon arrival “were asked to hand over their mobile phones to protect Mr Mendy from unwanted social media intrusion and any difficulties around breaking Covid restrictions.”
The prosecution barrister added that the alleged victim said “she didn’t want to hand over her phone and didn’t want to be in a position where she was cut off from the outside world. So she didn’t hand it over."
Mr Aina KC continued: “The group of girls ended up in the swimming pool area of the house and while in the pool area, the woman messaged a friend. It is the prosecution case that Mr Mendy saw this and he took her mobile phone from her, saying he was going to check it. Mr Mendy walked up some stairs with her mobile phone, naturally followed by the woman who was repeatedly saying, ‘Give me my phone back.’
“She was upset because it was her personal property and felt she was being treated like a child. She was also concerned because she had images of a private, intimate nature on her phone and she didn’t want him to see them. He walked into a bedroom with her phone and she followed. The bedroom doors were locked behind her with an internal locking system that he controlled.
Mendy celebrates with the Premier League trophy in 2021 (PA)
Mendy joined the reigning champions from Monaco in a £52m deal. (AFP via Getty Images)
“She asked for her phone back and said she wanted to leave his premises. He said he wanted to see her naked. She told him, ‘I don’t want to have sex with you, I just want my phone back. Give me my phone and I’ll leave.’ He told her he just wanted to look at her and he would give the phone back if she took her clothes off.
"She just wanted her phone and to leave. Mr Mendy would not allow her to leave. He said, 'If you just take off your clothes I just want to have a look at you. I promise I won’t touch you, I just want to see your body, your **** are so big.'
"She removed her clothes, she left her underwear on and said, 'I don’t want to do anything, I just want my phone back.' He threw her phone on to the bed and as she bent over to pick it up he positioned himself behind her, he was holding her love handles and she was saying, 'No I don’t want to have sex with you, I need to go.'
"He was saying, 'I’m not going to touch you, I just want to feel you, it’s fine, it’s ok.'
Mendy is then alleged to have raped the woman for around one minute despite the woman telling him she did not want to have sex. He then allegedly attempted to force the woman to give him oral sex.
"It was at this stage Mr Mendy took a step back and said ‘You’re too shy.’ She said she ‘wasn’t shy, I just don’t want to have sex with you.’ He then told her he’d had sex with 10,000 women.
"She got changed, he pulled his boxers up and said, ‘Don’t tell anyone and you can come here every night.’ She was left out of the bedroom, asked to leave the premises and her friends brought her home.
"The next day she told her friends and family and staff where she worked the details of what had happened. She then reported the matter to a referral centre and made a formal report to the police on 2nd of November 2020.”
Mr Aina KC told the jury that Mendy was interviewed by police on 11 November and he gave a prepared statement that said “the sexual activity that had taken place was consensual.” Mr Aina KC then said: “The jury [in the first trial] found Mr Mendy not guilty of oral and anal rape but could not make a decision around vaginal rape.”
Mr Mendy will officially leave Manchester City when his contract expires tomorrow. He had been suspended by the club since his arrest in August 2021. The defender joined City in 2017 from Monaco for £52million and, despite repeated injury problems, won three Premier League titles at the club.
The trial, which is expected to last three weeks, continues.
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