Man City's Benjamin Mendy to face new attempted rape accusations
Benjamin Mendy, a Manchester City defender, has stood trial to face a new charge of attempted sexual assault.
The 27-year-old went on trial at
Chester Crown Court
, where a judge governed that the additional charge against him may now be reported.
Mendy now confronts a total of nine charges, comprising seven acts of rape against six alleged victims.
At the pre-trial hearing, Judge Patrick Thompson encouraged counsel to guarantee that the case is fully prepared as he set a date for the trial, which will begin on July 25 and continue up to six weeks.
He said:
"It's not fair on the complainants and not fair on the defendants.
"I'm conscious of the fact that the complainants have already suffered significant delay.
"Say, for example, Mr. Mendy, his career is on hold. Everyone has got to understand Mr. Mendy can't go to work. This matter needs to be tried."
The defendant, dressed in a dark grey suit with a white shirt and black tie, inclined his head towards a French translator who sat between him and his co-defendant, Louis Saha Matturie, to establish his identity.
A new pre-trial hearing has been scheduled for March 11 by Judge Thompson.
Mendy, of Withinlee Road, Prestbury, Cheshire, is charged with nine counts of assaults involving six alleged victims.
Seven claims of rape affecting four women, one count of sexual assault, and the most recent accusation, one of attempted rape involving a new complainant, are among the charges.
Matturie, 40, of Eccles, Salford, is charged with ten charges of rape involving five women and three acts of sexual assault involving three people.
The allegations cover the period from late 2020 through August 2021. By law, none of the women involved may be recognized as sexual assault victims.
After being held in jail since their arrests on August 26 of last year, both defendants were granted bail in January.
Judge Thompson informed both defendants at the end of the 90-minute hearing on Wednesday:
"You will next be required to attend on Friday the 11th of March.
"You both have your bail on conditions as before."
Mendy nodded and responded: "
OK
."
Mendy has been a Manchester City player since 2017 when he arrived for £49.3 million from Monaco.
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