Benjamin Mendy raped women in ‘panic rooms’, jury told

The Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy raped women in “panic rooms” in his isolated mansion from which they believed they could not escape, a court has heard.

The 28-year-old French international defender abused his wealth and fame to lure women back to his gated Cheshire home and rape them when they either said no or were too drunk to consent, a jury at Chester crown court heard on Monday.

The court heard he met many of the women in Manchester nightclubs, often with the help of his “fixer”, Louis Saha Matturie, 41, known as Saha, who is on trial alongside him charged with multiple counts of rape and sexual assault.

The pair are accused of showing “callous indifference” to the 13 young women they allegedly attacked. The sexual conquest of young women became “a game”, the court heard.

Opening the case, the prosecutor, Timothy Cray, told the jury Mendy was a “reasonably famous” footballer at the time of the offences, having won the World Cup with the French national team. “These days fame brings attention. Fame also brings money. And because of this, Mendy’s wealth and status, others were prepared to help him to get what he wanted,” said Cray.

One of Saha’s jobs was “to find young women and to create the situations where those young women could be raped and sexually assaulted”, Cray added.

In July 2021, Saha offered to pay a woman to attend a party at Mendy’s home with a friend – instead of working a shift at a nightclub, the court heard. The woman later told police Mendy raped her in his cinema room without using a condom. Two of Mendy’s associates blocked her friend when she went to look for her, the jury was told.

Mendy and Saha had a joint purpose, the court heard. “These women were disposable: things to be used