Benjamin Mendy found not guilty of rape
Ex-Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been cleared of raping a woman and attempting to rape another.
The 28-year-old was accused of attacking a 24-year-old woman at his £4m mansion in Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire in October 2020.
Mendy was also accused of the attempted rape of another woman, aged 29, who said he had also molested her at his home two years before.
It comes after he was cleared of six rape charges at an earlier trial in January.
The France international broke down in tears as the not guilty verdicts were read out by the jury foreman following a three-week trial at Chester Crown Court.
The jury of six men and six women deliberated for about three hours and 15 minutes before reaching their conclusion.
Judge Steven Everett said: “Mr Mendy can be discharged from the dock.”
The footballer, whose contract with Manchester City expired this month, was cleared at the earlier trial of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, relating to four young women or teenagers.
But jurors failed to reach verdicts on two counts of rape and attempted rape, prompting a re-trial.
