Manchester City’s Mendy charged with two more counts of rape

Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has been charged with two additional counts of rape in addition to earlier charges of rape and sexual assault, English prosecutors have said.

The 27-year-old has been in custody since August after a number of bail applications were made but refused by judges.

Mendy was initially charged on August 26, with three counts of rape relating to an alleged incident in October 2020 and with the sexual assault of a woman in early January this year.

He was also charged with raping a woman in August this year.

The alleged attacks are said to have happened at his home address on Withinlee Road in Prestbury, Cheshire.

Another man, Louis Saha Matturie, 40, has been charged with two additional counts of rape and one count of sexual assault in relation to the alleged attacks.

“The CPS has authorised Cheshire Constabulary to charge two men in connection with additional allegations of serious sexual assault,” the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Cheshire Constabulary and the Crown Prosecution Service would like to remind everyone that criminal proceedings … are live and that they have a right to a fair trial,” the statement added.

Mendy’s lawyers have previously strenuously denied the allegations.

Both will appear at the Stockport Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, and are scheduled to go on trial on January 24, 2022.

France international Mendy signed for Manchester City from Ligue 1 side AS Monaco in 2017 for a fee in the region of 52 million pounds ($71.32m).

He last played for City against Tottenham Hotspur on August 15 and was suspended later that month. The World Cup winner has also won the Premier League three times and the English League Cup twice.