Izuchukwu OkosiFormer Manchester City and France defender Benjamin Mendy who had been accused of rape and attempted rape against two women in England on Friday regained his freedom.
The ex-Manchester City footballer, 28, was accused of carrying out sex attacks on two women at his £4million mansion.
He was cleared after three hours of deliberation by the jury at Chester Crown Court this afternoon.
Mendy, 28, had faced a retrial on 438one count of rape and one count of attempted rape during lockdown-busting parties. He is now a free man but without a club after his Man City contract expired at the end of June.
The French international full back was cleared of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault after a court case in January.
Mendy wept when he was cleared. His lawyers said he would now ‘rebuild his life’ – and a likely return to top flight football.
Jenny Wiltshire, Head of Serious & General Crime at Hickman & Rose said: ‘Benjamin Mendy would like to thank the members of the jury for focussing on the evidence in this trial, rather than on the rumour and innuendo that have followed this case from the outset.
‘This is the second time that Mr Mendy has been tried and found not guilty by a jury. He is delighted that both juries reached the correct verdicts.
‘It has been almost 3 years since the police started investigating this matter. Mr Mendy has tried to remain strong but the process has, inevitably had a serious impact on him.
‘He thanks everyone who has supported him throughout this ordeal and now asks for privacy so he can begin rebuilding his life.’
The player was suspended by his club while his trials were ongoing.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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