Mendy's friend raped teenager after Nando's date, court told

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Louis Saha MatturieImage source, PA Media
Image caption,

Louis Saha Matturie denies six counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault

A friend of footballer Benjamin Mendy raped a teenage girl after a first date at Nando's, a court has heard.

Louis Saha Matturie told the then 17-year-old he was a football agent and, after the meal, took her to his south Manchester flat, jurors were told.

Chester Crown Court heard he then exposed himself while on a bed and then raped her.

Both men deny all the allegations against them and said if any sex took place it was consensual.

The jury watched a police interview of the last of 13 complainants, who told officers of the alleged rape in 2012.

The court heard the complainant saw Mr Matturie while clubbing in Manchester, swapped numbers with him and arranged a date at Nando's.

She said he later drove the pair to his south Manchester flat, where they sat on a bed and kissed before he exposed himself.

"He just had it out, fully exposed," she said.

"I just remember saying, 'No. I don't want to have sex'.

"I wasn't really feeling it. I didn't really fancy him.

"I just remember him wanting to have sex. I felt like I had to have sex with him because he had it out.

"I just thought, 'it's got to this stage now'. I felt obliged."

She said she remembered him asking if it was the biggest penis she had ever seen.

"And I remember looking at him and saying, 'No'," she said.

"Like, I'm disgusted and numb. Repulsed."

Image source, PA Media
Image caption,

Benjamin Mendy denies various offences including seven counts of rape

The woman said she went to the toilet, cried and texted her mum to say she would be home soon.

The court heard Mr Matturie later drove her home.

After news of Mr Mendy and Mr Matturie's arrests, the woman said a friend sent an article about it to a group chat on her phone.

She told officers: "I thought, 'Oh, my God!'

"I felt sick and knew that I needed to say what I know. I just replied and said, 'I went on a date with him once'."

Earlier, the court heard from a friend of another woman who alleges Mr Matturie sexually assaulted her at the home of a footballer in Sheffield in 2016 when she was 18 years old.

She said Mr Matturie was the organiser of parties in Manchester, sometimes involving footballers, and contacted young women through Snapchat and Instagram.

She said there would be "no more" than five men at the events, with 10 or 15 girls invited and around 10 parties held during lockdown at a flat near Manchester city centre.

After Mr Mendy's arrest, she said Mr Matturie rang her.

She told the jury: "He said, 'Don't believe what's in the newspapers. These are girls, not women' - something along those lines - and he's told his boys to keep their heads down."

Prosecutors allege Mr Mendy was a "predator" who "turned the pursuit of women for sex into a game", while Mr Matturie allegedly had the job of finding young women for sex.

Mr Mendy, of Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire, 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.

The trial continues.

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