Benjamin Mendy tried to ‘debate’ alleged victim into sex, court hears

Accuser says she felt she had to give in to Man City star after ‘giving him every excuse’ to drop advance

Footballer Benjamin Mendy tried to “debate” a woman into having sex before raping her when she told him she did not want to, a court heard.

In a police interview played to the jury at Chester Crown Court on Wednesday, the alleged victim said the Manchester City left-back pressured her into sex after getting her alone at a gathering at his mansion – The Spinney in Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire – in July 2021.

Despite giving him “every excuse”, she said her protests “didn’t faze him” and she had to “give in”, the court heard.

The woman said she “felt dirty” and used most of a pack of baby wipes to try to clean herself after the incident, the jury heard.

The defendant’s lawyer’s showed CCTV footage of the accuser dancing with Mendy hours after the alleged incident to try prove she was “physically comfortable” with him despite her allegation.

Mendy, 28, is charged with eight counts of rape, one count of sexual assault and one count of attempted rape and faces a 15-week trial. He denies all charges.

The alleged victim told the trial she did not report the incident to police until being contacted by officers after other allegations surfaced because “it was like one word against another”, adding: “these people have power whether you like it or not”.

Recalling the alleged incident, she said she had been invited to Mendy’s home where people were drinking and playing games. But as she was about to leave he took her into the cinema room at the house alone where they talked and began kissing before he pulled his underwear down.

Mendy arrives at Chester Crown Court on Wednesday (PA)

She said: “I was just like ‘I don’t want to do anything, I don’t know you’.

“I was sat on a bean bag and he was standing in front of me holding himself. I felt like I had given him every excuse to get out of the situation.

“It didn’t faze him, it’s like nothing I said got through to him and it’s like arguing with a brick wall.”

She said she did not know other guests at the party well and did not feel she could walk away.

She continued: “I ended up having to like give in. There was nothing more I could do. Within 20 seconds it was over.”

Mendy playing for Manchester City in 2021 (Getty)

Following the alleged rape, she said she “didn’t know how to process what had just happened” and “felt so by myself”.

The jury were later played CCTV footage showing the accuser dancing with the footballer hours after the alleged attack.

Eleanor Laws QC, representing Mendy, questioned the woman over the footage and suggested she was “physically comfortable” with him despite the alleged attack.

She responded: “I would not say that I was physically comfortable in his company, I had just not processed everything that had happened.

“I was very drunk and I was just doing what everyone else was doing - I was acting like nothing had happened.”

Ms Laws QC continued: “Nobody in that club would suggest to you that you had to rub your bottom and dance towards someone you didn’t want to.”

“No,” the woman responded.

She later explained: “I was dancing with everyone, everyone was dancing with everyone.”

The court saw a further clip, which appeared to show the woman approaching Mendy and talking to him as he left the club.

Jurors were told she went back to the footballer’s home two days later after being invited by another man – though Mendy was not there.

Ms Laws QC said: “You would not want to go anywhere near there after what happened.”

Mendy leaves Chester Crown Court after Wednesday’s hearing (PA)

The woman replied: “Not on my own, no.”

Mendy’s co-accused Louis Saha Matturie, 41, the footballer’s friend and fixer, allegedly had the job of finding young women for sex.

Both men say that if any sex did take place it was consensual.

Prosecutors allege Mendy is a “predator” who “turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game”.

The trial continues.

Additional reporting by Press Association