The Benjamin Mendy case: What we know about the rape charges against the footballer, which were tried in England

Chilling display. British Attorney General Timothy Cray gave a detailed account of the allegations of sexual violence against Benjamin Mendy on Monday, August 15th. The French footballer has appeared since August 10 in a court in Chester, northern England, on eight counts of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault of seven women. The reported facts extend from October 2018 to August 2021. Benjamin Mendy appears alongside Luis Saha Matori, 41, accused of eight rapes and four sexual assaults between July 2012 and August 2021.

‘The case is simple’Attorney General Timothy Cray told jurors. “It has nothing to do with football. It’s really another chapter in a very old story: men who rape and attack women because they think they have the power and because they think they’re going to get away with it.” The two men, presented by the Prosecutor “Predators are willing to commit serious sexual assaults”They plead not guilty to the charges for which they are being tried.

Prosecutors say the women are “weak, terrified and isolated.”

Before the jury, the prosecutor went into detail about the charges against Benjami, Mindy. The footballer was accused of raping and assaulting seven women ‘Weak, terrified and isolated’, between October 2018 and August 2021, the judge said. some “They were drunk and didn’t remember anything or were asleep or awake”Prosecutor added.

Timothy Cray notably echoed the testimony of one of the seven victims. She says she has expressed her refusal to have sex on several occasions, while she was in the movie room of the player’s residence. the victim “She kept making it clear that she didn’t want to have sex while she was being raped.”The judge added.

During this hearing day, the jurors also heard the account of the night of July 23 to 24, 2021, in which Benjamin Mindy organized a party around his pool, before going to a nightclub in Manchester. The athlete is accused of committing three rapes during the evening: one at his home and two in a nightclub. One complainant, who was drunk, reported that she found herself on a sofa, on her stomach, with her arms behind her back. She claims that Benjamin Mindy kept telling her not to move while she was being raped.

The other defendant is accused of “searching for young women”

The prosecutor also returned to the links between the accused. Luis Saha Matori, who is involved in eight rapes and four sexual assaults, has been described as a close relative of the footballer, whose role was close to that of a dodger. Still, according to the prosecutor, he is responsible for “To find young women and create situations in which they can be raped and sexually assaulted.”

At the time of the described events, the football player learned ‘success period’ and enjoyed “A special life”Timothy Cray said. “The doors of restaurants and nightclubs opened for him, and people wanted to be with him.” Louis Saha Matori “She was a part of this world, connecting with girls, connecting with them”, Recipe. For the two-legged judge “They knew very well what they were doing.” was “Ready to cross the line” consent “Repeatedly”.

“Panic Rooms” in the Player’s Palace

In the majority of victim accounts, sexual violence took place behind closed doors at Benjamin Mindy’s home in Priestbury, in the county of Cheshire, northwest England. The footballer’s house is presented as a particularly secluded mansion, making it “An integral part of how defendants control victims”Prosecutor said.

As I mentioned guardian (Link in English), two women said that Benjamin Mendy raped them in rooms they thought were locked. And for good reason, several parts of the building were equipped with a special locking mechanism to turn them into Panic room In case of burglary. “Locks really create panic (…) because you can’t get in from the outside, but you can open them from the inside if you know how to do it”describes Timothy Cray, while videos filmed by police were broadcast at the soccer player’s home showing this locking system.

Laptops confiscated from some victims

The Public Prosecutor also revealed that the phones of some of the complainants had been confiscated upon their arrival at Benjamin Mendy. Expropriation is justified by the need to protect the image of the athlete on social networks, which would have deprived young women of any means of communication, in an already privately secluded palace.

The prosecutor’s account on the evening of October 11 supports this observation. After spending a night in a bar in Alderley Edge, two friends meet at the footballer and are asked to leave their phones, but one of them catches texting. Benjamin Mendy would have confiscated the device then, he says the team. The complainant, who claims to have repeatedly expressed her disapproval of any sexual act, says that she was then raped while trying to get her phone back. “In our time, no one can ignore that no means no”insisted that Timothy Kray be summoned to the jury.

The trial, which began on August 10, is supposed to establish the responsibilities of the two men, and will last more than three months. Benjamin Mendy faces life in prison.