The Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has been cleared of one count of rape after the judge in his trial directed the jury to find him not guilty
His co-defendant,Louis Saha Matturie has been acquitted on two counts of rape against the same woman
The trial at Chester Crown Court was told that the woman as had agreed to be filmed on Saha’s mobile and was said to have been shown smiling at the camera and gyrating. Judge Stephen Everett ordered Mendy and Saha be cleared of charges relating to that one woman.
He warned jurors not to speculate as to why the prosecution had decided not to pursue guilty verdicts in relation to the charges concerned and to continue to ‘faithfully’ try the defendants on the multiple charges they still face
Mendy is charged with another seven counts of rape against four women, one count of attempted rape of a fifth woman and one of sexual asssault of a sixth.
They span at least four different occasions between October 2018 and August 2021.
Matturie is charged with another seven counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault, relating to a total of eight women.
