Rape trial told woman checked player’s ‘worth’
ONE of Benjamin Mendy’s alleged victims made an internet search for his ‘worth’ the day before writing up an account of how he ‘raped’ her, a jury has heard.
The alleged victim, Woman Four, denied having ‘a mind to apply for compensation’ when she made a Google search before speaking to police informally and more than two weeks before giving a statement to officers.
The woman accuses the Manchester City defender of raping her while they were alone in a cinema room at his home in rural Cheshire in July 2021.
Mr Mendy, 28, denies all charges against him.
A trial at Chester Crown Court has previously heard the woman’s claims that her protests did not ‘faze’ Mr Mendy and ‘it was like arguing with a brick wall’ before he allegedly raped her.
Jurors heard that the woman made a search for Mr Mendy’s ‘worth’ on Google months after the alleged incident, following media coverage of other allegations by different women which had prompted police to contact her.
Eleanor Laws QC, representing Mr Mendy, asked the woman: “The next day you actually started to write an account on your phone of what happened with Mr Mendy.
“Do you remember that?”
The witness replied: “I don’t remember that.”
Ms Laws asked the witness: “Why would you be interested in how much money he earns or how much he is worth on January 17?”
The woman answered: “I wasn’t particularly interested but he was headlines and stuff ... obviously I’m going to Google him.”
Ms Laws QC continued: “Have you a mind to apply for compensation at some point?”
The woman responded: “No, and I haven’t done.”
During re-examination, prosecutor Timothy Cray QC asked the woman why she had stayed in touch with Mr Mendy over social media following the alleged rape.
The witness replied: “For me, he was someone I could not really avoid.
“When you go out in Manchester, you can’t avoid these people.
“The easiest and safest thing to do was act as normal as I could.
“I was civil but every time I got asked ‘come see me, come round’, I never ever went round and put myself in that position again.”
Mr Mendy denies eight counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault against seven young women.
The offences are alleged to have taken place on five different occasions at his home between October 2018 and August last year.
His co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie, 41, of Eccles, Salford, denies eight counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault relating to eight young women.
●●The trial continues.