Former Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy cried in the dock after he was cleared of rape and attempted rape at Chester Crown Court.
The Frenchman was found not guilty of attempting to rape a woman in October 2018 and of raping a second woman in October 2020.
The 28-year-old broke down in tears as the foreman of the jury returned the verdicts of not guilty after a three-week trial at Chester Crown Court.
She had stood up for the verdicts, but sank back in her seat, her head on her knees, wiping her tears with a white handkerchief.
Mendy, whose contract with the Premier League champions expired on July 1, was cleared of attempting to rape a woman, 29 at the time, at his £4m mansion in Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire, in October 2018.
He was also found not guilty of the rape of a second woman, aged 24, two years later, also at his home.
The footballer is alleged to have later told him “it’s fine, I’ve had sex with 10,000 women,” the court heard.
The jury of six men and six women was out for about three hours and 15 minutes before returning their verdict.
Judge Steven Everett responded: “Mr. Mendy can be discharged from the bench.”
His trial was a new trial, as a jury acquitted him earlier this year of six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault, involving four young women or adolescents, after a six-month trial.
Jurors failed to reach a verdict on the two counts of rape and attempted rape for which he was retried.
In a statement issued by his legal team following his acquittal, Mendy said the nearly three-year investigation has had a “serious impact” on him.
The statement read: “Benjamin Mendy would like to thank the jurors for focusing on the evidence in this trial, rather than the rumors and innuendo that have followed this case from the beginning.
“This is the second time that Mr. Mendy has been tried and found not guilty by a jury. He is delighted that both juries have reached the correct verdicts.
“It has been almost three years since the police began to investigate this matter. Mendy has tried to stay strong, but the process has inevitably taken a serious toll on him.
“He thanks everyone who has supported him through this ordeal and now asks for privacy so he can start rebuilding his life.”
