Tag: sexual assault

Before taking a break for lunch, nearly two hours later, he unfolded half of his argument in this highly publicised case; some thirty journalists were present on the spartan wooden benches of the Crown Court on Monday morning. "The charges are simple and have little to do with football.said the preliminary prosecutor. It's just another chapter in a very old story: men raping and sexually assaulting women because they think they're powerful and can get away with it.

As the two defendants, who were seated in the dock and to whom the indictment file had also been distributed, looked on, Prosecutor Cray continued his speech, getting to the heart of the matter. First, he mentioned Louis Saha Matturie. The co-accused (no relation to former striker Louis Saha) is charged with twelve counts of sexual offences, including eight rapes. On Monday, he was presented as a "fixer by the prosecution, a "assistant and a "friend Mendy, who would have been responsible for "to find young women and create situations where they could be raped and sexually assaulted".said the prosecutor.

A 'mansion' where you could feel 'vulnerable

Accused of eight rapes, one attempted rape and one sexual assault, Benjamin Mendy, like his alleged accomplice, was presented as a "man of conscience". "predator by Prosecutor Cray. The acts of which the Manchester City defender - who has been suspended for almost a year by his club - is suspected took place at his vast home in Prestbury, Cheshire, between 25 October 2018 and 23 August 2021, three days before his arrest. The native of Longjumeau (Essonne), who spent 134 days in pre-trial detention, has been on parole since 7 January.

Mendy's country home is a "manor housecontinued the prosecutor, in which one could feel "vulnerable, frightened, isolated. A "vulnerability accentuated by other important facts that you will hear about".he told the jury. Such as driving "Complainants in rooms they think are locked, "the fact that some of the women were drunk and that the defendants wanted them to be". and "differences in age and wealth between the defendants and the plaintiffs"..

The apparent serenity shown by Benjamin Mendy since the start of the trial on 10 August was no longer in evidence. Face closed, mouth stiff, the 2018 world champion listened as the prosecutor continued his address to the jury: "Here are two important questions for you to consider. What happened in Mendy's house on the days in question? What was there in that house that made these women vulnerable?" A video of the various rooms in the full-back's "mansion" was also shown on two screens during the hearing. The player and his 'assistant' Matturie, who have pleaded not guilty to each of the charges against them, maintain that the complainants were consenting, the prosecutor pointed out.

"Nowadays, no one can doubt that :  "No means no "he also said, echoing the societal upheaval generated by the #MeToo movement. This fundamental right to say  "no sex should benefit everyone. And we don't lose that right because we went to a bar, got dressed up to go clubbing or went to a footballer's house." It is obviously on this central issue - the consent, or otherwise, of the presumed victims - that the jurors will have to decide and reach a verdict at the end of this trial, which is due to last fifteen weeks.