[News] Footballer, Benjamin Mendy’s accuser ‘told police she wanted to sue Man City because they let him continue to play and put other girls at risk,’ court hears

The victim of an alleged sex attack by football star Benjamin Mendy wanted to sue his club Manchester City because ‘they let a predator continue to play and put other girls at risk,’ a court heard.

 

She told a police officer after reporting her allegations: ‘Let him play, I am going to sue him’, the jury at Chester Crown Court was told.

 

The witness added: ‘If he had stopped before the party, what happened to me and happened to everyone else would never have happened. They let a predator continue playing and put other girls at risk.

 

‘It was not about getting anything out of it. The message was him being allowed to continue to play when he is endangering other lives.

 

‘What happened to me was nothing compared to what happened to the other girls.

 

‘He was still being allowed to play, live as normal, allowed to go to training and play games and go to parties and go clubbing like he had done nothing wrong.’

 

The woman said that she had made the comments at the time ‘out of anger’ but had not pursued any compensation claim against the Premier League club.

 

The witness insisted she had minimal contact with Mendy, who denies multiple sex assaults, after the alleged incident.

 

She also admitted that she had exchanged messages the following day after seeing press reports about Mendy and had asked the friend if she should sell her story.

 

The witness said: ‘It was a massive party. I remember saying that and laughing about it but I would not sell a story.’

 

She denied that they had danced together during the two hours that she had spent in the swimming pool after the incident.

 

The woman, who was cross-examined by Eleanor Laws QC, for Mendy, was shown a two-second video clip of the party.

 

It showed Mendy, dressed in dark glasses and a white singlet, dancing with a group including girls, some of whom were inhaling from balloons to loud music.

 

The witness was shown at the end of the clip dancing next to Mr. Mendy and asked if she wanted to change her claim that she had been trying to ‘keep my distance ‘ from the soccer star.

 

The girl replied: ‘I was just at the party like everyone else.’

 

Prosecutors allege Mendy is a ‘predator’ who ‘turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game’.

 

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

 

Co-accused Louis Saha Matturie, 41, is the footballer’s friend and fixer, alleged to have had the job of finding young women for sex.

 

Matturie, of Eccles, Salford, denies eight counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault relating to eight young women.

 

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

 

The trial continues.