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French footballer Benjamin Mendy acquitted of rape charges by UK jury
Former Manchester City and France footballer Benjamin Mendy
broke down in tears on Friday, as a UK jury cleared him of sex offences.
Issued on: 14/07/2023 - 17:43; 2 min
Text by: NEWS WIRES
England, on July 14, 2023, having been cleared of one count of rape and another of attempted rape.
© Oli Scarff, AFP
Mendy, 28, put his head on his knees and wiped away tears on hearing the verdict at the end of the three-week trial at Chester Crown Court in northwest England.
He had previously being (sic been) cleared in January of six counts of rape and one of sexual assault following a six-month trial.
Jurors in that trial had been unable to reach a verdict on one count of rape and another of attempted rape, resulting in a retrial.
Mendy, whose contract with Manchester City expired at the end of June, had denied all the charges filed against him.
He was accused alongside Louis Saha Matturie, 41, an alleged "fixer", who was found not guilty by the jury at the earlier trial of three counts of rape relating to two teenagers.
Jurors also failed to reach verdicts on three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault against Matturie by five other women.
He faces a separate retrial later this year.
The prosecution had alleged that Mendy was a sexual "predator" who raped or sexually assaulted young women procured by Matturie at parties at his luxury home south of Manchester.
But Mendy denied ever forcing any woman into sex and both said any sexual activity they had with women was consensual.
Mendy a record signing for a defender when he moved to Manchester City from French club Monaco in 2017, played 75 times for City.
But his playing time was limited by injuries and a loss of form.
The last of his 10 caps for France came in November 2019, after the defender won the World Cup in 2018.
The trials meant that he missed Manchester City's treble last season of the English Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League.
The footballer's lawyers said in a statement after the verdict that he was "delighted" to have been acquitted in both trials.
"Benjamin Mendy would like to thank the members of the jury for focusing on the evidence in this trial rather than the rumour and innuendo that has followed this case from the outset," they added.
They said he had "tried to remain strong" throughout but the court process had had a "serious impact" on him.
(AFP)
Andrew Tate accusers face harassment from 'troll army'
as influencer seeks defamation suit in U.S.
By Adam Schrader
July 16 (UPI) -- The alpha male influencer Andrew Tate, who is criminally charged with human trafficking and rape in Romania, is seeking a U.S. defamation lawsuit against two of his accusers.
McCue Jury & Partners, a British law firm representing four women who have initiated legal proceedings against him in London, said in a statement Friday that 36-year-old Tate and his brother Tristan were seeking the legal proceedings in the United States.
"We are deeply concerned by these developments, which in our view amount to nothing more than a crude and malicious attempt to spread disinformation, disclose personal and private information, and attach (attack?) those brave enough to speak out against their abusers," the lawyers said on behalf of the victims.
"We have experienced these attacks firsthand and had disinformation spread about us over social media, including claims that we do not exist. We stand in solidarity with all the alleged victims of the Tates and commend all those who have come forward to date."
Dani Pinter, senior legal counsel at the U.S.-based nonprofit National Center on Sexual Exploitation, told ABC News that the women, who have remained anonymous but have been uncovered by Tate's fans, have been targeted by the "troll army" online and in person.
A social media personality sympathetic to the Tates has also questioned one of the women's former romantic partners as private investigators knocked on their doors, Pinter said. Both women have also received threats of rape and death threats.
"It's incredibly oppressive," Pinter said. "Because they feel afraid for their safety and for their loved ones and for anyone they engage with, it's incredibly isolating. It's incredibly exhausting and frightening."
The Tates filed the lawsuit in Palm Beach County in Florida, claiming the allegations were fabricated, and seeking $5 million in damages for defamation.
"The same strategy that he used to indoctrinate thousands of young men created a readymade army of trolls," Pinter told ABC News. "So he's able to engage this mob to very quickly harass and target these women."
Andrew Tate and his brother were arrested with two other suspects in December on charges of human trafficking involving at least six women. He was moved from jail to house arrest in March.
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