A jury in the United Kingdom on Friday acquitted Manchester City and France international Benjamin Mendy of six counts of rape and another of sexual assault once morest four women, following a six-month trial.
The seven men and four women in the commission failed to reach verdicts on a seventh charge of rape and one of attempted rape.
Prosecutors then said they would seek a retrial on these charges.
“We have made a decision today, which is to proceed with these charges in two separate trials,” prosecutor Matthew Conway told Chester Crown Court.
Mandy, 28, who has denied all nine charges involving six women, covered his face with both hands and swayed gently back and forth as he delivered the verdicts.
Judge Stephen Everett immediately set a new date for the start of the trial, June 26, for the two counts, on which the jury did not agree.
“It is not unusual for jurors not to reach verdicts on some counts. You must be true to your duty,” Everett said, thanking them and absolving them of any future jury service for seven years.
The jury, which began hearing the case last August, has been deliberating since early December, with a long break over the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Mandy was charged alongside Luis Saha Maturi, 41, the alleged “fixer”, who was found not guilty by the jury on three counts of rape involving teens.
The jury also failed to reach verdicts on three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault once morest him by five other women.
Prosecutors alleged that Mendy was sexually “violent” who raped or sexually assaulted young women, brought in by Matori, at parties at his luxurious home.
Mendy denied forcing any woman to have sex and both said that any sexual activity they had with women was consensual.
“Given that there are open matters relating to this case, the club is not in a position to comment further at this time,” a Manchester City statement said.
