Man City star Benjamin Mendy is freed on bail
Pictured: Man City star Benjamin Mendy, 27, leaves court after being freed from jail following 134 days in custody as he awaits trial for ‘sex attacks’ on five women – including one while on bail in August
Man City star Benjamin Mendy accused of seven rapes and one sexual assault He has been in prison on remand since September but was given bail today Most recently held in HMP Manchester, commonly referred to as Strangeways
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Benjamin Mendy was released on bail today after four months in prison.
The Manchester City and France defender, 27, who is accused of seven rapes and one sexual assault, was held at HMP Altcourse, Liverpool, before recently being transferred to HMP Manchester, better known as Strangeways, just before Christmas.
Today he was granted bail by Judge Patrick Thompson at a private hearing at Chester Crown Court, with press excluded from the courtroom.
Mendy is accused of eight offences against five different women, including seven counts of rape relating to four women. And the sexual assault of another alleged victim.
He allegedly raped a woman while he was on police bail in August, before entering custody 134 days ago, in September.
The Premier League star, who signed for Manchester City for £52million on £90,000-a-week, was told he will be the subject of ‘stringent’ conditions while on bail.
Mendy had been due to go on trial this month, but it has now been put back to June at the earliest. He has been bailed until January 24, until a further pre-trial hearing.
Footballer Benjamin Mendy has been released on bail after four months in prison. He was seen (above) leaving Chester Crown Court today. The Premier League star, who signed for Manchester City for £52million on £90,000-a-week, was told he will be the subject of ‘stringent’ conditions while on bail
Manchester City and France defender Mendy, 27, who is accused of seven rapes and one sexual assault, was held at HMP Altcourse, Liverpool, before recently being transferred to HMP Manchester, better known as Strangeways, just before Christmas
The footballer was switched to the notorious HMP Prison Manchester, commonly referred to as Strangeways, on December 23
The France international was today granted bail after an application by his defence team at Chester Crown Court.
Judge Patrick Thompson made the decision after declining a prosecution request to extend Mendy’s custody time limit.
Mendy was told will be the subject of ‘stringent’ conditions while on bail.
The allegations against him include three counts of rape, alleged to have happened on 11 October 2020, a sexual assault on 2 January 2021, one count of rape on 24 July 2021 and two counts of rape on 23 August 2021.
Last month, Mendy was charged with a further count of rape in July, last year.
Co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie, 40, of Edwin Court, Eccles, was already charged with six counts of rape and one sexual assault.
The charges relate to four complainants over the age of 16 and are alleged to have taken place between March 2021 and August 2021.
But Ian Unsworth QC, prosecuting, said that fresh charges of rape and sexual assault has been authorised and Matturie would appear in court on those matters in due course.
The two new charges relate to an existing complainant.
Mendy and Matturie were due to face trial later this month but the date has provisionally been rescheduled to June 27.
Benjamin Mendy is pictured on August 12 out with his teammates at The Ivy in Manchester
Court artist sketch by Elizabeth Cook of Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy (left) appearing at Manchester Magistrates Court in December charged with two additional counts of rape, after initially being charged in August with four counts of rape. He is pictured with Louis Saha Matturie who is accused of sexually touching a woman in Sheffield in 2016, raping a woman in March this year and another count of rape in Macclesfield in July
Mendy’s co-accused, Louis Saha Matturie, 40, of Eccles, Greater Manchester, (left at court in September, right previously)
Both men will next appear in court on January 24.
Mendy joined Manchester City from Monaco in 2017 for a reported £52million
City suspended the left-back in August pending an investigation.
The club said in a statement at the time: ‘The matter is subject to a legal process and the club is therefore unable to make further comment until that process is complete.’
