Woman denies turning normal sex with Benjamin Mendy's co-accused into rape allegation

A woman has denied turning normal sex between herself and the friend and co-accused of footballer Benjamin Mendy into a rape allegation.

She alleges Louis Saha Matturie told her he was a football agent and after a first date at Nando's took her back to his flat in south Manchester where he raped her.

Matturie, then aged 31, had met the woman while out clubbing in Manchester and they set up the date in the summer of 2012, not long after she turned 18, Chester Crown Court was told.

Manchester City defender Mendy, 28, and his friend Matturie, 41, deny a series of rapes and sexual assaults on young women.

The woman said she did not tell anyone about the alleged rape in 2012 until after seeing a news article in December 2021 about the arrest of the two defendants. She then went to the police.

Under cross-examination from Lisa Wilding KC, defending Matturie, the woman agreed that though she remembered some details, she could not recall the sex between them, which was a "blank" in her memory.

Ms Wilding put it to the witness that she could not recall how long sex lasted or what actually happened.

Ms Wilding continued: "Just as the whole sex part has vanished from your memory, it's vanished from his too.

"If this happened, might it have been you gave every indication that you were willing and consenting to the sex that took place?"

The witness replied: "Definitely not."

Ms Wilding suggested the witness may have "gone along" with having sex which she later regretted, adding: "When you come to read in the newspapers, that others had alleged rape or sexual offences against him, did you then turn normal and forgettable sex into a sexual allegation?"

The woman replied: "No. Not at all. I know when I want to have sex with somebody or not."

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

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

The trial continues.