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Benjamin Mendy found not guilty of rape and attempted rape at Chester Crown Court

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Ex-Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been cleared of raping a woman and attempting to rape another.

The 28-year-old was accused of attacking a 24-year-old woman at his £4m mansion in Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire in October 2020.

Mr Mendy was also accused of the attempted rape of another woman, aged 29, who said he had also molested her at his home two years before.

It comes after he was cleared of six rapes at an earlier trial in January.

The France international broke down in tears as the not guilty verdicts were read out by the jury foreman following a three-week trial at Chester Crown Court.

The jury of six men and six women deliberated for about three hours and 15 minutes before reaching their conclusion.

Judge Steven Everett said: “Mr Mendy can be discharged from the dock.”

The footballer, whose contract with Manchester City expired earlier this month, was cleared at the earlier trial of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, relating to four young women or teenagers.

Mendy became the Premier League’s most expensive defender when City paid £52m to Monaco for him in 2017.

He won three titles with City and was part of France’s World Cup-winning squad in 2018.

He was released by the club when his contract expired at the end of June.

After leaving court, Mendy’s solicitor Jenny Wiltshire said in a statement: “Benjamin Mendy would like to thank the members of the jury for focusing on the evidence of this trial, rather than the rumour and innuendo that have followed this case from the outset.

“This is the second time Mr Mendy has been tried and found not guilty by the jury. He is delighted that both jurors reached the correct verdict.”

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