Manchester City player Benjamin Mendy is on trial at Chester Crown Court in England on eight counts of rape and sexual assault which allegedly took place between 2018 and 2021.

At the opening of the case, the prosecution accuses Mendy of "turning the search for victims to have sex into a game" and that the footballer crossed the line, using his fame and fortune.

"He had a contract with Manchester City and was a World Cup winner with the French national team.

And these days, fame attracts attention.

Fame brings money.

And because of that, Mendy's wealth and status, others were willing to help him get what he wanted."

"This case is another chapter in a very old story: men raping and sexually assaulting women because they think they are powerful and because they think they can get away with it," argued prosecutor Timothy Cray.

Mendy was described as a sexual "predator" who "showed indifference and was callous" to his victims.

'Predator' Man City star Benjamin Mendy 'raped and sexually assaulted young women in locked 'panic rooms' https://t.co/AsjLul0x54

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) August 15, 2022

"The acts that the defendants committed together (Mendy is accused with his friend Louis Saha Matturie) show a heartless disregard for women," said the prosecutor.

During the trial Mendy was accused of locking some of his victims in isolated rooms without mobile phone reception at the footballer's residence in Mottram St Andrew (Cheshire).

Process against Manchester City-verdediger Benjamin Mendy began: "Hij sloot vrouwen op in 'panic room' en verkrachtte hen" https://t.co/WZg9Dm54lg

— Nieuwsblad.be (@Nieuwsblad_be) August 16, 2022

"Two of the witnesses claim rapes in those rooms and they felt as if they were locked inside," said prosecutor Cray.

Benjamin Mendy has pleaded not guilty to all charges brought against him.

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Telegraph

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