Man City star Benjamin Mendy arrives for second day of his rape trial

Manchester City star Benjamin Mendy tried to rape a woman after she got out of a shower at his mansion, a court was told today.

Brief details of the alleged attack were mentioned before proceedings were halted due to a faulty speaker.

Footballer Mendy, 28, was accused of being a ‘predator’ who showed ‘callous indifference’ yesterday.

He denies charges of eight counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault.

His co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie – called ‘Saha’ during proceedings – denies eight counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault, relating to eight young women. The alleged offences span July 2012 to August last year.

Prosecutor Timothy Cray QC told the court this morning Mendy tried to rape a woman, now aged 29, after she showered in his Cheshire home in in October 2018.

Mr Cray said she went to police in January this year after the £52m Premier League star’s name was published in the press in connection with other allegations.

The hearing today started with a few seconds of video recorded evidence from the first alleged victim, whose legs were seen shaking.

But the playback had to be halted because the judge was unable to hear it on the court speakers, with the case adjourned for an hour. It later became apparent it could not be fixed quickly and the jury told to come back on Wednesday.

The court heard yesterday allegations that Saha got young women in Manchester nightclub Chinawhite before taking them back to the star’s Cheshire mansion to be raped by the pair.

Some of the alleged victims claim they had their phones taken off them when they visited the sprawling and isolated mansion, and plied with alcohol in an attempt to make them comply.

Two others said they were locked in ‘panic rooms’ where they were attacked.

The pair – who cannot be named for legal reasons – said Mendy forced himself onto them in the master bedroom and the downstairs office.

Both of them had a special locking mechanism, which created a ‘panic room’ in case of burglary which can only be opened from the inside not the outside.

A person would have to know how to open the doors to these rooms from the inside, which meant the women believed they had been locked in.

Mendy, 28, is accused of being a ‘predator’ who showed ‘callous indifference’ and denies charges of eight counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault.

Saha, 40, has also entered not guilty pleas to all charges he faces which include eight counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault.

Prosecutor Timothy Cray QC said: ‘One of the things Saha wanted to do was to get attractive women to The Spinney so Mendy could have a go with them.’

One woman from Chinawhite in Manchester went back to the house on July 23 last year where she said she was raped by Mendy.

Mr Cray added: ‘He led her downstairs to the cinema room, she told her friend ‘If I am not back in five or ten minutes please come looking for me’.

‘Her friend tried to get downstairs but two of Mendy’s associates she did not know was blocking the stairs.’    

Another two women, both 19 and who had been to the club went to Mendy’s house, where they were both allegedly raped.

The court heard yesterday that as Mendy attacked one he declared ‘Don’t move, don’t move’ while the second woke up to find the footballer raping her.

Mendy and his co-accused’s court case was earlier told they ‘turned the pursuit of victims for sex into a game’, crossing the line of consent ‘over and over again’.

The opening of the case was told it was one of ‘men who rape and sexually assault women, because they think they are powerful, and because they think they can get away with it’. 

At lunchtime on Monday the jury was shown a walkthrough video of The Spinney mansion, complete with a swimming pool and Jaws-style mural and gym with paintings of Mendy and his name plastered all over the walls.

Opening the case Mr Cray QC had told the jury: ‘The case is simple. Actually, this case has little to do with football. It is another chapter in a very old story: men who rape and sexually assault women, because they think they are powerful, and because they think they can get away with it.

‘They knew very well what they were doing. They turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game. They were prepared to cross that line over and over again. That was the effect of their game. 

‘To them these women were disposable things to be used for sex and thrown to one side.

‘Central to the case is Mendy’s home at the time. We say Mendy’s house is part and parcel of how the defendants gained control of the victims.

‘It’s a mansion. But more importantly, it was isolated, as so many of the victims thought.

‘On occasions when they got there, the victims had their phone taken from them. Some of the complainants were taken to rooms which were locked.’

Mr Cray told jurors that Saha, of Eccles, Salford, was Mendy’s friend and fixer, and one of his jobs was ‘to find young women and to create the situations where those young women could be raped and sexually assaulted’.

The prosecutor said Mendy was a ‘reasonably famous football player’ who ‘because of his wealth and status, others were prepared to help him to get what he wanted’.

He added: ‘Our case is that the defendants’ pursuit of these 13 women turned them into predators, who were prepared to commit serious sexual offences.’

He said ‘the fact they would not take ‘no’ for an answer’ would be something the jurors will ‘hear time and time again’.

The prosecutor said Mendy and Saha say in ‘broad terms’ that all the women consented to sex, willingly with only a couple of allegations where there is a denial that anything sexual happened.

Timothy Cray added there are no ‘big disputes’ about times or places and the ‘what happened’ is not controversial.

But a central question is whether the women consented to sex.

Mr Cray added: ‘Ultimately, these cases are about where the line is drawn.

You will be able to weigh up whether, in each case, the defendants crossed those lines because this is central, readily understandable life experience – you will know where the truth is after having heard the women concerned, the challenges to them and the other evidence that is relevant to the allegations in the charges.’ 

Last week, the names of Raheem Sterling, Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker, Riyad Mahrez and John Stones, all either current or ex- Manchester City players, were read to jurors ahead of the trial.

His Honour Judge Everett wanted to make sure no jurors had any personal connection to anyone who could be referred to during the trial, or be called as a witness. 

Judge Everett, who is Recorder of Chester, told the jury last week: ‘Maybe you have heard their names. Some of you will be aware of the fact Mr Mendy is a professional footballer who plays football for Manchester City.’

Both defendants are on bail and the trial is expected to last up to 15 weeks.

None of the women who have made the allegations involved can be identified and reporting restrictions apply ahead of the trial. 

Eight men and six women were sworn in to serve on the jury, including two jurors who will be discharged after the opening of the case.

Mendy has played for Manchester City since 2017, when he joined from Monaco for a reported £52 million.

He was suspended by the club after being charged by police.

Judge Everett also told the jury: ‘There are 22 counts or charges, if you are feeling overwhelmed by that I can assure you that you will be having a lot of assistance on how you will approach that.

‘Don’t feel daunted or overwhelmed by that. This trial could go through to November.’ 

The trial continues.