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The Telegraph
The Telegraph
National
Gareth Davies

Jack Grealish 'had sex with alleged rape victim' at a Benjamin Mendy party, court hears

Jack Grealish in action for Manchester City - Carl Recine/Reuters
Jack Grealish in action for Manchester City - Carl Recine/Reuters

England footballer Jack Grealish had sex with a woman on the same night she told a friend she was raped by another man at a Benjamin Mendy house party, a court has been told.

Mr Grealish, 27, and Mr Mendy, 28, had been at the China White nightclub in Manchester city centre before going back to Mr Mendy's Cheshire mansion, The Spinney, in Prestbury, when two women were attacked, Chester Crown Court heard.

One, 23, said she was raped by Mr Mendy's co-accused, Louis Saha Matturie, 41, in a car when they went to get more drink because Mr Grealish was "demanding vodka".

When she returned to the house, the court was then told how she had sex with Mr Grealish, and that the footballer was seen "passed out" at the party.

On Friday, jurors were played a police interview from the young woman who was 17 at the time, accusing Mr Mendy and Mr Matturie of rape.

Seventeen at the time, she says Mr Mendy raped her twice at his home during the gathering, where the footballer's friends and Mr Grealish's friends, from Birmingham, were also present.

The party on Aug 23 last year came just 18 days after Mr Grealish had signed for his new club Manchester City after a British record £100million move from Aston Villa. 

Jack Grealish and Benjamin Mendy walking to get the train to London on Aug 6 - the day after Mr Grealish had signed for his new club for a British record £100m - Eamonn and James CLarke
Jack Grealish and Benjamin Mendy walking to get the train to London on Aug 6 - the day after Mr Grealish had signed for his new club for a British record £100m - Eamonn and James CLarke

She told police Mr Matturie asked her to the nightclub in the early hours of last Aug 23.

She arrived at around 3.30am and was outside the club shortly before Mr Mendy and Mr Matturie left.

She said: "They were with Jack Grealish. There were a few girls around him but they were taking pictures and video with his friends.

"The club did not like that. They wanted the pics to be deleted.

"There was a bit of a talking to. It took a while for them to come out."

The teenager got a taxi with three other girls and one of Mr Matturie's friends, and passed around drink on the way to Mr Mendy's house, where the girls had their mobile phones taken away before going inside, the court was told.

She said: "There were already two girls on the couch. They were sat next to Jack. He was already on the couch."

Mr Matturie (below) then led the 23-year-old woman away "hand in hand" to get more alcohol because, the witness told police, "Jack had been demanding vodka".

Louis Saha Matturie, 40, arrives at Chester Crown Court - David Rawcliffe/PA
Louis Saha Matturie, 40, arrives at Chester Crown Court - David Rawcliffe/PA

Mr Matturie then allegedly raped the 23-year-old in the car they used to go to a shop at a local petrol station before returning to the house.

The 17-year-old told police: "I asked her what happened. I took her to the toilet. She's absolutely distraught, in hysterics.

"She just told me she had fallen asleep in the car and woke up with the feeling of him pushing inside her."

The teenager told police she felt "uncomfortable" and did not know what to do but had no phone to call for help.

Later, in a lounge area, she said Mr Mendy began "checking her out" before leading her to an office with a secure lock.

Inside the office, Mr Mendy allegedly raped the teenager twice.

She told police: "We did not talk about sex beforehand and afterwards we did not talk about it.

"There was nothing of the sort to suggest we were going to engage in sex. During sex he was telling me, 'This is not the body of a 17-year-old... I want you every day."

Afterwards, the 17-year-old went to find the 23-year-old woman and found her in a lounge.

She told police: "She told me she had sex with Jack.

"I don't know whether that was consensual or non-consensual. I don't know what that was. But she was talking about it.

"I know that this was after I had been with Ben, because after she had gone to bed with Ben as well.

"She had been taken up to a room with Ben. This was a bedroom."

Asked in another police interview what she knew about Jack Grealish, she said that she knew that he'd recently moved to Manchester and that she'd "heard bits and bobs" about his football.

When the officer asked her if she knew he was high-profile, the alleged victim answered: "I knew he was quite sought-after just because of the way he was treated inside the club, I thought he must be quite high-profile."

The teenager said she was raped in a cinema room by Mr Matturie after being raped by Mr Mendy.

She said she saw Grealish "passed out" in the house.

She said she was raped again by Mr Matturie at a Manchester flat on the same day.

Prosecutors claim Mr Mendy (below) is a "predator" who "turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game".

Benjamin Mendy leaving Chester Crown Court - David Rawcliffe/PA
Benjamin Mendy leaving Chester Crown Court - David Rawcliffe/PA

Mr Matturie, his friend and "fixer", allegedly had the job of finding young women for sex.

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

Mr Matturie of Eccles, Salford, denies six counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault relating to seven young women.

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

Both Mr Mendy and Mr Matturie deny multiple sex offences against a string of young women. The trial continues.

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