Perhaps you could rope in the representatives of these women? Because I guess there might be a case where they were unsure whether what happened was actually illegal and they might have been badly advised? But I’m sure there are already measures in place to limit that Were they actually going for money? Because this went criminal. I know a criminal conviction can then be followed up with a civil claim. Or at least I think so? Or did they try and settle and he refused so they went criminal? I don’t know the full timeline
Not sure it's mutually exclusive. There not being enough evidence to convict him doesn't automatically equate to the accusation being false.
This. I don't know nearly enough about the case to make any sort of judgement on Mendy or his accusers but it's notoriously hard to convict someone of rape.
No, it absolutely doesn’t. The reason I brought it up though was because I had heard from a mate who is well connected in that area, that this was a paper thin case and very much a money grabbing style exploit. It’s certainly a difficult one to ‘police’ as it were. Stupid, young, rich footballers are always going to be a target for these things. But then rape for me is up there as the most heinous crime around.
What I would say is that it does make me uncomfortable that there’s no real comeback on those who falsely accuse someone of rape, and essentially ruin their career (and life) by doing so. That was kind of my original point.
The only solution is to not put yourself in those potential situations (as Mendy did). However when I say that, my not so unconscious bias is kicking in as there is still a bit of me that thinks he is guilty as he consistently did put himself in those situations so there is no smoke without fire. Tricky one - that is why a) Rape convictions are hard and b) Innocent people can be accused with no comeback.
For whatever reason, in England and Wales fewer than 1 in 60 rapes reported to the police results in a criminal charge, and fewer than 1 in 100 results in a conviction. Victims face having their phone contents downloaded and subjected to scrutiny. Dame Vera Baird, the Victims’ Commissioner, in her 2021/22 Annual Report, stated that rape victims faced a choice between justice and having a private life. Do victims of any other type of crime have to undergo the same kind of public inquisition? It’s no wonder that according to the charity Rape Crisis, 5 out of 6 women who are raped don’t even bother reporting it. If Mendy has been accused falsely, then of course he deserves our sympathy, but women on the lookout for a payout must surely be aware of the odds against their success.
It sounds like you are consider the not guilty verdict the only important thing here. Lets consider - this is a player at the biggest club in the world who was a less than consummate pro. Who partied excessively, lured women to parties, engaged in god know what excesses and as a result lost the privileges that are bestowed on world class athletes. He threw away the career through his own behavior, a large part of which was the accusations of these women which is highly likely to hold more than a grain of truth. If a woman at a party has sex with 2 men and a third joins in against her will, is that rape? Could it ever be proved as such? Apparently not. Do you really believe that he was deserving of the position and wealth he had as a professional footballer? I'm not moralistic about the sex, but the way he treated women was reprehensible and unacceptable. His behavior cost him his career, end of. I say that as a man and the father of 2 boys. Reap what you sow. I would sincerely hope that other players who were present at these parties <cough><grealish><cough> are being 're-educated'.
Oh don’t get me wrong. NZ, the guy is a horror story in a lot of ways, and a real example of how all this wealth and pampering can make things go horribly wrong. In some ways he’s a bad example of what I was saying (because he’s reprehensible), but he’s also a good example (because he’s the perfect target for that kind of crime - and crime it is). Please don’t in any way mistake me for an apologist for any crime that did occur from him and Saha (though I’m not sure I’d be using a phrase like “highly likely” regarding that) - my point is only that consciously false accusations in instances like this are an horrific thing to do too.
I should, in fairness, add some context here. A thoroughly decent and lovely friend of mine slept with a girl who had a boyfriend, whilst we were at university. She woke up the next day wracked with guilt, having been unfaithful, and accused my friend of raping her (not to the police or anything, but to our friendship group). Everyone was variously shocked, horrified, and frankly very surprised. Naturally I spoke to my friend who was utterly gobsmacked, and who told me they hadn’t even had sex - just a snog and a fumble. Anyhow, everyone believed her, he was ostracised from the friendship group, until such point a fortnight later when she openly admitted she’d made it up. He never really lived it down though, and was still stained by the accusation alone, where people would treat him differently, to the point where he binned his degree course and left university. Nobody really batted an eyelid with regard to her. It was just deeply, deeply unfair. And, frankly, that’s nowhere near as damaging (in some ways) as this case has been. Plus there’s the expectation of compensation going on here. So yeah, these things tend to get my goat.
