Benjamin Mendy refused bail as footballer faces four rape charges
1 September 2021, 12:40
Benjamin Mendy's application for bail has been refused ahead of a potential trial on rape charges.
The Manchester City footballer will stay in custody after a 50-minute hearing at Chester Crown Court on Wednesday.
Judge Steven Everett refused the bail application, which was made in a behind-closed-doors hearing which Mendy did not attend.
The footballer has been in custody at HMP Altcourse in Merseyside since last Friday,
The 27-year-old left-back is charged with four counts of rape and one of sexual assault in relation to alleged attacks on three women, including one under 18.
Prosecutors allege they took place at his home in Prestbury, Cheshire.
Three of the rapes are alleged to have happened in October 2020, with the fourth alleged to have happened last month, while he is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in early January this year.
France international Mendy has been suspended by the club pending an investigation and he is due to appear at Chester Crown Court on September 10.
A second man, aged 40, was arrested on suspicion of rape as part of the police investigation into the allegations but was released on bail.
