Premier League footballer Benjamin Mendy was today refused bail ahead of his trial for rape and sexual assault due to take place in three months’ time.
The 27-year-old Manchester City defender, who is being held on remand at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool, was denied bail by a judge at Chester Crown Court.
Mendy, of Prestbury, Cheshire, who moved to the reigning champions for £52million in 2017, has been in custody for about seven weeks after being charged in August.
It was the third bail application the French footballer had made. He is yet to enter pleas to the charges of four counts of rape and one of sexual assault.
Mendy was not present in person at Chester Crown Court today. The press were excluded from the 50-minute hearing before Judge Patrick Thompson, but the result of the application was passed on after the hearing by a court official.
The defendant was charged on August 26 with three counts of rape relating to an alleged incident in October 2020 and with the sexual assault of a woman in early January this year. He is also charged with raping a woman in August.
The alleged attacks, on three different women including one under 18, are said to have happened at his home address in Prestbury.
Mendy was suspended by Manchester City after being charged by police, pending an investigation.
Mendy’s co-accused, Louis Saha Matturie, 40, of Eccles, Greater Manchester, is charged with four counts of rape.
The charges relate to three complainants over the age of 16 and are alleged to have taken place between April 2021 and August 2021.
Matturie is also in custody. Both men are scheduled to go on trial on January 24, 2022.
Mendy earns £90,000 a week and lives in a £5million mansion in Prestbury, an upmarket village near Manchester popular with fellow players.
He was part of France’s World Cup-winning squad in 2018 but did not play in the final. He has made 75 appearances for Man City since signing from Monaco in 2017.
Mendy played in Man City’s first two games this season against Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur but was on the bench for their third game against Norwich City.
The following game was against Arsenal, by which time he had been charged.
Via Daily Mail
