Benjamin Mendy came in court today for the third day of his rape trial, with his first accuser’s taped evidence ready to be played for the jury.
Mendy, 28, is accused of seven young women on eight charges of rape, one act of attempted rape, and one count of sexual assault.
He is on trial with 41-year-old co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie, who denies eight charges of rape and four counts of sexual assault involving eight young women.
Today, the jury at Chester Crown Court was given a videotaped police interview with Woman One, Mendy’s claimed first victim.
In October 2018, the City defender is accused of trying to rape her at his residence.
The prosecutor, Timothy Cray QC, told the jury that the lady filed a police report after seeing media coverage of Mr. Mendy last year.
He stated that she went to a police station and informed officials that Mr. Mendy “exposed his penis” to her before bringing her into a bed and “attempting to seat her down and pulling her onto his lap.”
Yesterday, jurors were set to hear the videotaped police interview with the 29-year-old lady, but the rest of the courtroom was unable to fully hear the evidence.
Mr. Cray said that the lady came forward to authorities in January 2022 after Mendy’s name “truly hit the headlines” after his August 2021 indictment for sex offenses.