Benjamin Mendy labeled a 'predator' for raping women in locked panic rooms; housekeeper helped one victim escape, court told
A court heard today how Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy and his friend allegedly raped women in locked 'panic rooms' in his isolated mansion.
According to The Guardian, the jury at Chester Crown Court on Monday heard allegations of how the Frenchman abused his position of fame and wealth. The prosecution accused Benjamin Mendy of luring women into his gated Cheshire home and raping them when they were drunk.
Gary Cotteril gives an update on Benjamin Mendy's trial.
Warning: This video contains descriptions of distressing incidents. https://t.co/ELEX18ird2
The court also heard how he found many of the women in Manchester nightclubs, often with the help of his “fixer”, a 41-year-old man called Louis Saha Matturie. Saha is on trial alongside the former France international and has been charged with multiple counts of rape and sexual assault.
The pair are accused of showing "callous indifference" to 13 women whom they allegedly attacked, with the sexual conquest becoming "a game" for the accused duo.
At the beginning of the case, prosecutor Timothy Cray told the jury:
“He had a contract with Man City and he was a World Cup winner with the French national team. And these days fame brings attention. Fame also brings money. And because of this, Mendy’s wealth and status, others were prepared to help him to get what he wanted.” [sic]
He added that one of Saha's jobs was:
“To find young women and to create the situations where those young women could be raped and sexually assaulted."
The Sun also reports that Cray later added:
"Our case is that the defendants' pursuit of these 13 women turned them into predators, who were prepared to commit serious sexual offences."
The men deny all 22 charges against them. The alleged offenses took place between October 2018 and 2021.
Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy raped women inside locked 'panic rooms' in his isolated mansion from which they believed they could not escape, a court has heard theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/a…
Prosecution accuses Benjamin Mendy of horrific crimes on first court date
The court was later told of how two of the women were "passed between" both men. The Guardian further quoted Cray saying:
“In their minds, and we say this could not be clearer, the stream of women they brought to their homes existed to them purely to be pursued for sex." [sic]
The prosecutor also stated:
“It was isolated, about 17 miles south of the centre of Manchester as the crow flies, but if you turned up there and you had never been there and the big old gates locked behind you, you may well have felt that you were vulnerable." [sic]
The jury then heard how Benjamin Mendy's housekeeper had to let one woman out of the locked mansion gates after her alleged ordeal.
Some women told police they had their phones taken off them on arrival in order to protect Mendy and others from unwanted social media intrusions, the court heard.
On Wednesday, Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy’s trial begins at Chester crown court.
This is what we know about the case so far.
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