Benjamin Mendy: Woman looked blank after rape, friend tells court

Benjamin Mendy is accused of eight counts of rape, one of attempted rape and one of sexual assault

A woman "looked like she had seen a ghost" moments after emerging from a bedroom where footballer Benjamin Mendy allegedly raped her three times, her friend has told a court.

Mr Mendy, 28, denies eight counts of rape, attempted rape and sexual assault at Chester Crown Court .

A woman said her 20-year-old friend had gone missing with the footballer for about 20 minutes at a house party.

She said when she was found, she "looked blank" and "looked dead".

The witness told the court she had found her friend coming downstairs from an upstairs bedroom.

Timothy Cray QC, prosecuting, asked her: "How did she look to you?"

She said her friend "looked like she had seen a ghost. She looked blank. She looked dead."

Mr Mendy is on trial with co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie, who also denies a number of charges

She told the jury the woman was then "very keen" to leave and go home.

She said when they arrived back at home, the 20-year-old told her she was "fine" and tried "brushing off" what had happened.

However, she said the woman also talked about "being in a situation where you don't want to do something, [but] feel pressured, so you just go along with something".

She said the woman told her the following morning that the Manchester City player had promised not to touch her if she stripped while he looked at her, but then "forced" her down on a bed and raped her.

Mr Mendy is on trial with co-defendant Louis Saha Matturie, 41, who is alleged to have had the job of finding women for sex.

Mr Matturie, of Eccles, Salford, denies eight counts of rape and four counts of sexual assault relating to eight young women.

The trial continues.

Why not follow BBC North West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram? You can also send story ideas to [e-mail]