From his last match to his next trial: the Benjamin Mendy case in ten dates

In the summer of 2021, Benjamin Mendy is preparing to return to the field for a season like the others before being swept up in a legal whirlwind.

A look back at seventeen months of investigations and trials.

August 15, 2021: his last match with Manchester City

For the first day of the Premier League, Pep Guardiola's Citizens travel to Tottenham.

Benjamin Mendy played 79 minutes (1-0 defeat).

His last under the jersey of Manchester City.

The general public does not know it yet.

The player is already accused of rape by at least two women.

Benjamin Mendy is established on the left side of the Mancunian defense on August 15, 2021. Icon Sport PA Images / Icon Sport

August 26, 2021: First incarceration and suspension by his club

Cheshire Police say Benjamin Mendy has been remanded in custody on four counts of rape and sexual assault.

At the same time, his club Manchester City announces the player's suspension until further notice.

The next day, the former Marseille defender was imprisoned in Altcourse prison in Merseyside.

January 7, 2022: Mendy is granted parole

Since his provisional imprisonment, Benjamin Mendy has been charged with a total of seven rapes.

Moved to the high-security Strangeways prison center in Manchester, the French defender was released on parole and placed under strict judicial control at his home.

Benjamin Mendy sneaks out of Strangeways Prison, Manchester.

Icon Sport PA Images / Icon Sport

May 23, 2022: Mendy pleads not guilty

A new attempted rape was added to the file.

Unmissable moment in English legal proceedings: the left-back of Manchester City pleads not guilty to the nine counts of sexual offenses of which he is suspected.

August 10, 2022: The trial begins

Originally scheduled for July, the trial of Benjamin Mendy and co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie opens at Chester Crown Court.

It is supposed to last fifteen weeks.

In the end, ten sexual charges were brought, out of seven complainants, between October 2018 and August 2021.

The Le Havre-trained defender arrives at Chester Crown Court to attend the opening of his trial.

AFP

September 13, 2022: Several charges dropped

This is the first positive point for Benjamin Mendy since the start of the revelations.

Four charges reported by one of the complainants, including a charge of rape against the French defender, have been dropped.

November 7, 2022: “I have done nothing wrong with women”

For the first time since the start of the trial, the international tricolor takes the floor to give his version of the facts.

“In my social life, there are many things that I have done wrong.

But I didn't do anything wrong with the women,” he said at the helm.

He will cry on the stand the next day.

December 5, 2022: The jury must deliberate

After reviewing the charges and the defence, the jury retired to deliberate, finally, four months after the opening of the trial.

Benjamin Mendy must face the deliberation of the jury composed of twelve citizens (eight men, four women).

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January 13, 2023: Mendy is found not guilty of six rapes

After fourteen days of deliberation disrupted by the cases of Covid-19 and the end of year celebrations, the Manchester City defender is found not guilty of six rapes, committed against four women, and a sexual assault, committed on a fifth.

Two charges remain without a verdict.

June 26, 2023: A new trial

At the request of the prosecution, a new trial is to be held next June to examine the seventh charge of rape, and an attempted rape.

The case is not yet settled.