Man City star Benjamin Mendy was this afternoon cleared of one count of rape.
The footballer is on trial having denied eight counts of rape against five women; one count of attempted rape; and one count of sexual assault.
The offences were alleged to have taken place on five different occasions at his Cheshire mansion between October 2018 and August last year. The Man City star has been suspended by the club ever since his arrest and his trial is currently ongoing.
His alleged fixer, Louis Saha Matturie, was also cleared of three other sex charges today after a tape of one of the encounters was revealed in court, reports the Daily Mail.
The video revealed that the alleged victim – known as Woman Seven – went to Louis Saha Matturie’s flat to collect balloons to fill with nitrous oxide – also known as laughing gas.
A jury heard claims she was then raped by the 41-year-old.
This incident is said to have occurred a week after she had claimed Mendy had raped her himself at his home.
But Chester Crown Court was told she had agreed to be filmed on Saha’s mobile and was said to have been shown smiling at the camera and gyrating.
Judge Stephen Everett then ordered Mendy and Saha to be cleared of charges relating to that one woman.
