Benjamin Mendy found not guilty of rape and attempted rape

Former Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy was found not guilty at a retrial Friday of one count of raping a woman and the attempted rape of another woman.

Mendy broke down in tears as the verdicts were given by the jury foreman following a three-week trial at Chester Crown Court in northwest England. He stood for the verdicts but sank to his seat, his head on his knees, wiping away tears with a tissue.

The France international, whose contract with City ended on 1 July, was cleared of attempting to rape a woman — who was aged 29 at the time — at his home in October 2018. He was also found not guilty of the rape of a second woman, aged 24, two years later also at his home address.

Mendy denied the charges and said the incidents were consensual encounters.