Benjamin Mendy admits he whispered ‘I’m going to kidnap you’ to woman during night out
Benjamin Mendy admitted he did tell a woman he is accused of raping that he was going to "kidnap her", a court heard.
The Manchester City left-back, 28, is giving evidence for a second day at Chester Crown Court having been charged with seven counts of rape against four women, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault.
Under questioning from his barrister, Eleanor Laws KC, Mendy was asked about a comment from one of his alleged victims, Woman One, in October 2018.
She had earlier told the trial that Mendy approached her in a nightclub to say : "At one point he came up to me and said, 'When's he not looking, I'm going to kidnap you'. I thought he was joking."
Mendy told Ms Laws today (November 8) that he does remember whispering the remark while Woman One was dancing with his friend, who was also a footballer.
Mendy said they had "flirted" and "danced together". He recalled putting his hand around her waist, and when asked by Ms Laws what her reaction was, he told the court: "We were both smiling."
He described the mood on the night out, in which he and Woman One had visited a restaurant in Manchester city centre with others before they headed to two nightclubs, as "good".
The group headed back to Mendy's Cheshire home afterwards. Jurors heard how Woman One spent the night in a bedroom with his friend. She alleges he attempted to rape her the following morning in October 2018.
Mendy denies the allegation. He said he told her "we can have what we wanted" after asking permission to have sex with her from his friend.
He told the court she was upset that he had asked him and his friend had agreed, and that he was "fine" when she told him "no" after he suggested they have sex.
Under further questioning from his barrister, Eleanor Laws KC, said he stopped being paid by City in September 2021, having been suspended in August of last year following his arrest.
The court heard the pair had first met in Barcelona in 2017 during another night out. Woman One had been invited to Manchester the following year by Mendy's footballer friend, who she said she was much more interested in.
Mendy said he arranged for his chauffeur to take her to a nearby train station after she had asked to leave.
He was also asked about a second alleged victim, Woman Two, who accuses the City defender of raping her three times during a party at his home in October 2020.
Mendy told the court they did not have sex but he was left feeling "confused and shocked" when she texted his co-accused Louis Saha Matturie expressing concern about what had happened between them.
Mendy is on trial with co-defendant Matturie, 41, who was an alleged "fixer" to find women for him.
Mendy denies seven counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of sexual assault against six young women.
Matturie, of Eccles, Salford, denies six counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault relating to seven young women.
The trial continues.