It is now the turn of Benjamin Mendy to speak in court in Chester. After several weeks of trial, which notably allowed the numerous complainants to detail their testimonies and their accusations, the 28-year-old French footballer once again assured that he had only had consensual sex with the complainants. As a reminder, he appears for eight rapes, one attempted rape and one sexual assault against seven women. Last September, the charge of an eighth woman was dropped for lack of sufficient evidence.
This Thursday, October 27, the court jury was able to hear the statements made by the former player of theOM to the police when questioned about four rapes. In this recording, the elements of which have been recounted by our British colleagues from Manchester Evening News, Benjamin Mendy has denied these accusations. “I’m shocked to be charged with rape and forcible confinement”.
Regarding two complainants, the player even claimed that these intimate moments were followed by episodes of relaxation with friends “We relaxed in the lounge with friends, she was laughing and she was happy“, he assured about one of them. In recounting the evenings spent with the complainants, Mendy confirmed that he had an unlocking code device to access his room, but he told investigators that nothing prevented women from opening the door from the inside: “They could leave at any time“.
“She knew what she was doing”
In this recording, the French international also denied the rape charges of the sixth complainant in the file, who says she was raped in her sleep. The footballer even said he refused to have sex with her: “I didn’t want to have sex with her when she was on her period. The next day, I got up and went to the training. I didn’t rape her,” he explained. “She wasn’t sleeping, she had been drinking and was a little drunk, but she knew what she was doing“.
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