Third day of the Benjamin Mendy trial on Friday, a day devoted to the cross-examination of the complainant heard the day before, who had denounced a repeated attempt at rape at the footballer’s home in a testimony that was difficult to support. It was Eleanor Laws, one of the lawyers for the former Manchester City player who tried to destabilize the young woman present at the hearing, without succeeding.
“If someone listened to me, then I could try to move on”
The defender of Benjamin Mendy notably questioned the complainant several times on certain details of her version. Why, for example, friends of hers, who had asked to speak to Louis Saha Matturie, a relative of the player also accused of rape, to say that they were “not happy” after the supposed attack, are no longer returned to charge? “Was it because you started telling a lie and exaggerating to your friends about what happened with Mendy?” “, “Absolutely not”, answered tit for tat the complainant.
The defense then asked why the young woman had waited several weeks before formally filing a complaint: “Between that evening and the beginning of November, you convinced yourself that you were really the victim of all that. “Reply there also firm of the accuser of Mendy:” I did not need to persuade me. I was absolutely certain of what had happened. I did not consent at any time. Asked to detail the reasons that led her to go to the police, the complainant explained that she felt “so bad” after the attack that she “just wanted her life to end”.
“I just didn’t want to be there anymore. It’s a scary thought for me because I know I have close friends and a good job, but I couldn’t go on to be honest. I told myself that if I went there, I would simply be heard. Because I hadn’t been heard from that night. I said to myself that if someone would listen to me, if I could get that out of me, then I could try to move on. I didn’t want to live my life anymore. I didn’t want to be there anymore, so to speak. The trial will resume on Monday, with a third plaintiff normally present in court.