Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been refused bail ahead of a potential trial on rape charges amid reports he had a ‘meltdown’ in prison because he mistakenly thought he would be housed in a ‘VIP wing’.
The 27-year-old, who is charged with four counts of rape and one sexual assault, was told by guards at HMP Altcourse in Merseyside after he arrived there last Friday that he would be placed in the VIP wing for vulnerable prisoners.
However, the footballer mistakenly assumed he would be housed in a VIP wing for celebrity figures at the Category B jail and was left experiencing a ‘rude awakening’ when he discovered.
A source told The Sun: ‘When Mendy arrived staff explained he was going to be kept on the VIP wing for his own safety.
‘He had a rude awakening when he saw the cell and realised who he was going to be mixing with.
‘He wasn’t happy and it was a very sobering experience for him.’
Today, another bail application was made at Chester Crown Court in a hearing held behind closed doors, which lasted about 50 minutes.
Honorary Recorder of Chester Judge Steven Everett refused the application, a court spokesman said.
Mendy is charged with attacks on three different women, including one under 18, at his home in Prestbury, Cheshire.
Three of the rapes are alleged to have taken place in October 2020 and he is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in early January this year. He is also charged with raping a woman last month.
The footballer, who has been suspended by the club pending investigation, is due to appear at Chester Crown Court on September 10.
A second man, aged 40, was arrested on suspicion of rape as part of the police investigation into the allegations but was released on bail, Cheshire Constabulary said.
