Benjamin Mendy, the 28-year-old Manchester City footballer allegedly told the alleged victim that he had slept with 10,000 women and that his home had panic room-style locks.
When Benjamin Mendy attorney asked the woman who claims he raped her why she didn’t try to get away, she burst into tears in court. Mendy plays football for Manchester City.
The French international, now 28 years old, allegedly enticed the woman into his bedroom by showing her naked photos from his phone. A police interview with the alleged victim, in which she claims that he used his fingerprint to open the bedroom door, was played in Chester Crown Court. All the accusations against Mendy have been refuted by him.
She claimed that she had followed him inside, asked for her phone back, and then heard the door close. The woman claims that when Mendy asked her to have sex with him in October 2020, she repeatedly told him that she did not want to, but that he eventually told her, “Well the doors locked anyway,” and made her undress to her underwear.
The jury had previously heard that Mendy had installed “panic room” locks on his bedroom and other rooms in his house. Eleanor Laws QC, counsel for Mendy, questioned the witness, who is the second to testify so far in the trial.
Ms Laws argued that the door was not locked and questioned the alleged victim on why she did not try to leave the room.
She said, “He already told me I wouldn’t be able to get out at this point. As soon as I realised that, I decided it wouldn’t be appropriate to cause a scene.
As sobs filled the room, the witness explained, “I was in a room with someone that I didn’t know and I couldn’t get out, so I felt that was my only choice.”
She claims that after he raped her, he said, “It’s fine, I have had sex with 10,000 women,” and “It’s a privilege.”
Ms Laws tried to reassure the alleged victim that Mendy had not actually claimed to have slept with 10,000 women, but the woman responded, “I’m absolutely sure he did, it’s in high definition in my mind.” This has been the single most traumatic experience of my life.
When questioned further about why she waited until the next day to tell friends about the alleged rape, the woman replied, “Because of the shock. The news came as such a shock that, even two years later, just saying it feels awkward.
Therefore, I lacked the appropriate vocabulary at the time. For a moment, I considered telling my mom, but then I realised that I shouldn’t because she’ll be upset and stressed out. I was making an effort to act normally because I wanted to put that episode behind me as quickly as possible.
According to testimony presented in court this morning, Mendy and the woman went to a bar where former Manchester United player Jesse Lingard was also present. That Lingard was involved is not even a possibility.
The court heard that Mendy and the woman later returned to Mendy’s home in Mottram St Andrew, rural Cheshire.
They allegedly went into his bedroom, where Mendy allegedly told her, “If you just take your clothes off, I just want to have a look at you and I won’t touch you but I just want to see what you look like.”
She told the police, “He (Benjamin Mendy) threw my phone on the bed so then I bent over to get it off the bed and he had walked round the bed and come behind me and pushed me onto the bed so I was on all fours.”
She elaborated in a police interview that was played for the jury: “He said, ‘I have had sex with 10,000 women as well, but don’t tell anyone,’ and, ‘It would be a privilege for me to go over and have that done every night by him.'”
Friend and “fixer” Louis Saha Matturie, 41, is also on trial for allegedly helping Mendy meet young women and for being present at parties where rapes took place, according to the women who testified.
Eccles resident Saha denies rape and sexual assault charges brought by eight women, including two that also name Benjamin Mendy as a suspect.
The alleged victim claimed that when she woke up the following day, she found Snapchat messages from both Mendy and Saha, whom she identified as Mendy’s “manager guy.”
She speculated that, while using her device, he added a Snapchat account for both himself and the manager. The following day, at 12 p.m., I checked my Snapchat to find a message from Ben. Not only did I not read it, but I also found myself wondering, “How the f*** have I added him?”
According to her, she was able to “slide” the message open and read it without him knowing, and he had sent her “loads of question marks.”
According to the woman, she also received a message from Saha asking, “Are you ok?” If you have anything to talk about, please give me a call.
She continued, “I was like, ‘What the f***?’ so I took a screenshot, but I didn’t take a screenshot of the message itself because that would tell them and I didn’t want them to know I’d seen them. As a follow-up, I put up a block on them.
Since the account’s profile picture and story feature both appeared to be of Mendy, she said she had no doubt that it belonged to him.
Mendy has been charged with eight counts of rape, five of which he denies, and one of attempted rape.
He is also accused of sexually assaulting another woman, but he denies the charge.
The alleged incidents occurred on five separate occasions between October 2018 and August of last year at his “isolated” home in Cheshire.
The crimes were allegedly committed at Benjamin Mendy’s mansion, The Spinney, according to court testimony.
Earlier this week, prosecutor Timothy Cray QC told the jury that Mendy allegedly raped three women in one night following a pool party at the mansion.
Saha allegedly paid one of these women to go to Benjamin Mendy house, where she was raped despite her initial refusal of sex.
The other two women were minors, and according to the prosecution, they dozed off while Mendy raped them.
One victim testified that she awoke on a sofa in the living room while Mendy held her arms behind her back and chanted, “Don’t move, don’t move.”
Another alleged victim testified in court that Mendy raped her in an office of his home that was also locked with a “panic room-style” lock.
The trial, set to last four months, is still ongoing.
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