Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy (David Rawcliffe/PA)
(Picture: PA Wire)The Benjamin Mendy rape trial has been adjourned until Wednesday morning due to technical issues with TV sound at Chester Crown Court.
Jurors were about to hear the video-recorded police interview with Mendy’s first alleged victim, a 29-year-old woman, but the rest of the court could not hear the evidence properly.
Judge Steven Everett told the jury of eight men and four women he would adjourn proceedings for an hour while technicians dealt with the problem.
Earlier Timothy Cray QC, prosecuting, said Benjamin Mendy is accused of the attempted rape of the woman in October 2018, after she got out of a shower at Mendy’s home.
Mr Cray said she came forward to police in January 2022 after Mendy’s name, “really hit the press” after the footballer was charged with sex offences in August 2021.
Mendy, 28, is on trial at Chester Crown Court accused of eight counts of rape. He is also accused of one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault, spanning October 2018 and August 2021.
He stands trial alongside co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie, 41.
Saha Matturie, of Eccles, Salford, denies eight counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault relating to eight young women.
His alleged offences span from July 2012 to August last year. Both men deny all charges.
