World football champion Benjamin Mendy, prosecuted for rape in England, was presented Monday by the prosecution at his trial as a "
predator
" who abused "
vulnerable, terrified and isolated
" victims.
The 28-year-old French defender, suspended for a year by Manchester City, is on trial in Chester, in the north of England, for eight rapes, an attempted rape and a sexual assault against seven women.
Read alsoFive questions to understand the Benjamin Mendy affair
He denies the ten counts which relate to facts which allegedly took place between October 2018 and August 2021 at his home in Prestbury, Cheshire.
He faces life imprisonment.
Benjamin Mendy is on trial alongside another man, Louis Saha Matturie - unrelated to former footballer Louis Saha - prosecuted for eight rapes and four sexual assaults on eight women between July 2012 and August 2021. He also pleaded not guilty .
After two first days of trial devoted to the choice of jurors and the organization of hearings, the court returned to the heart of the matter on Monday with the start of the prosecution's statement.
The phone of some women confiscated when they went to the player's home
“
The case is simple
,” prosecutor Timothy Cray told jurors.
“
It has nothing to do with football.
It's another chapter in a very old story: men who rape and assault women because they think they have power, and because they think they'll get away with it.
»
He described the two defendants as "
predators ready to commit serious sexual abuse
" on young victims who were "
vulnerable, terrified and isolated
", pointing out that the telephones of some women may have been confiscated when they went to the player's home.
The highly publicized trial taking place at Chester Crown Court, south-west Manchester, is expected to last more than three months.
Winner of the 2018 World Cup with the France team, where he played the role of a good comrade if not a key player, Benjamin Mendy spent more than four months, from August 2021 to January 2022, in pre-trial detention.
Released in early January, he was placed under judicial supervision pending trial.
