The French defender of Manchester City, Benjamin Mendy, accused in recent months of seven rapes, an attempted rape and a sexual assault, has been accused of a new rape by another woman, according to judicial sources.
Nine days ago, the 27-year-old footballer pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him by six women. But in the last hours another accusation of rape has been added to the list, presented by another woman, which had not come to light until now due to the express prohibition of the judge handling the case.
Mendy, who had not yet been formally notified of this new charge, has not yet had to rule on his defense. The ten charges against him relate to events that allegedly took place between October 2018 and August 2021 at his home in Prestbury, in the English county of Cheshire.
The player will appear in court with a jury on July 25, along with a co-defendant, Louis Saha Matturie, 40, also charged with eight rapes and four sexual assaults on eight women between July 2012 and August 2021, of the who pleaded not guilty.
After several months in pre-trial detention, the 2018 world champion was released in early January and placed under judicial supervision, pending his trial, which will begin on July 25. The case began at the end of August 2021, when Manchester City announced the suspension of the player, with a contract until June 2023, without further explanation.
The English justice then quickly announced that the player had been placed in preventive detention after being accused of four rapes and sexual assault by three women, including a minor. Other charges were later added.
Trained in Le Havre, he played for Marseille and spent a season at Monaco. Mendy became the most expensive defender in history in 2017 when the cityzens paid 52 million pounds (about 61.4 million euros at current prices) to get his services. When he arrived at City, he was considered one of the great French and world hopes at left-back, but his career has been cut short, first by various injuries and later by rape charges.
