Benjamin Mendy Rape Trial: Jury Can Deliver Major Verdict In Manchester City Star Case

A judge has ruled that jurors in the trial of footballer Benjamin Mendy, who is accused of rape, can deliver a majority verdict.

The Manchester City footballer and his 41-year-old friend Louis Saha Matturie have been on trial at Chester Crown Court in England since Aug. 10, 2022, reported BBC.

According to prosecutors, the 28-year-old footballer is a "predator" who "turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game." Jurors at the court have so far been deliberating for 12 days, and now a judge has ruled that they can deliver a majority verdict. It means that the result does not have to be unanimous, The Sun reported on Tuesday. The judge can accept a verdict upon which at least 10 of the jury members agree compared to all the 11 of them.

Mendy is accused of one count of sexual assault, one count of attempted rape and seven counts of rape against six young women. Mendy allegedly locked the women in "panic rooms" at his mansion in Cheshire while he was hosting parties. According to some of his alleged victims, their phones were taken away from them when they reached the mansion. The prosecutors said that this left them unable to call for help.

Earlier, Mendy told the court that it was "honestly, so easy" for him to meet up with women and have sex "because of the status." He said that the attention became "10 times more" when he started playing for the popular Manchester City football club while admitting that he is "no Brad Pitt," referring to the Hollywood star. The French international also told the jurors that he would often sleep with different women on the same night. He admitted that for him it was normal, he realized "just now it sounds bad."

Matturie was an alleged "fixer," who was in charge of finding women for sex. He is also accused of various sex offences against young women. He denied three counts of sexual assault and six counts of rape in connection with seven young women. Both the men said that if any sex did take place with the women or the girls, it was all consensual.