Young woman tells Benjamin Mendy's rape trial 'she blacked out after drinks'

The Manchester City player denies all nine charges against him

Author: Pat Hurst & Dan DaviesPublished 14th Sep 2022

A young woman claimed she blacked out after having drinks and drugs and later came round with Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy's friend and co-accused raping her.

The woman, aged 19 at the time, said she had gone to an apartment near Manchester city centre last March, used by Louis Saha Matturie, Chester Crown Court heard.

While there, Matturie, 41, made her and her friend drinks, but he himself was not drinking, she told detectives in a police interview played to the jury.

They all inhaled nitrous oxide balloons - a "party thing" - before she passed out, the woman told the jury.

She was drunk but "not staggering", the court heard, but after more drinks at the flat, she "blacked out".

The teenager then woke up on her back on a mattress with Matturie lying on top, raping her, she told police.

"It was all very blurry," she said. "I was really confused. I think as I came to consciousness he was on me. I think I was just very shocked.

"I had no idea who it was. I was still completely out of it.

"I was in an absolute state."

After she came to, the woman said she heard her friend's voice, dashed out of the room and told her, "we need to go", and they left the flat.

Prosecutors have alleged Mendy is a "predator" who, "turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game".

Mendy denies seven counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault against six young women.

Matturie, the footballer's friend and fixer, is alleged to have had the job of finding young women for sex.

Matturie of Eccles, Salford, denies six counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault relating to seven young women.

Both men say if any sex did take place with women or girls it was consensual.

The trial was adjourned until Thursday morning.

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