From millionaire World Cup winner to £4-a-day prisoner - how Benjamin Mendy's life crumbled
Nearly five years ago, Benjamin Mendy's wildest dreams had come true. Just a few days before his 24th birthday, he had reached the pinnacle of world football, achieving what every player aspires to accomplish.
Mendy was a jovial figure at his trial. He spent months in the imposing surroundings of Chester Crown Court within the Castle complex in the historic Roman city. Settling in Paris, his parents both worked and strived to put food on the table, living a humble existence. Mendy didn't excel at school academically but quickly found a passion with a ball at his feet.
At first he lived in an apartment with his older brother, who took a close interest in his affairs and sought to keep him on the straight and narrow. A move to Marseille, one of French football's biggest clubs, followed. The reported £52m transfer fee made him the most expensive defender of all time at that stage. His brother joined him in England to help him find a house to live in. The £4.8m mansion named The Spinney, in Prestbury, was chosen.
As well as enjoying a positive start to his City career on the pitch, Mendy embraced the party lifestyle. He would go out two or three times a week when he played for City, and acquired an apartment on Chapel Street in Salford. After a positive start to his City career on the pitch, two serious injuries kept him out of Pep Guardiola's team for many months. Mendy said he sought solace in the party lifestyle. "When I felt happy is when I was drinking and making parties," he said at his first trial.Before it was revealed that he was being investigated by police, it was disclosed that Manchester City had launched a probe after he held a New Year's Eve party which breached Covid regulations.
"It is the first time I was really careful. The life I had before, everything I wanted to have, I just buy it." He would later pinpoint that as the moment when he claimed to have experienced a Damascene conversion. Ahead of his trial, he was released on bail and began to prepare his case with his legal team, led by Eleanor Laws KC, a high profile barrister who has previously represented Johnny Depp at his UK libel trial. In another reality, as the jury deliberated on Mendy's case at the first trial, which ran from August last year to January, he could have been in Qatar with his French teammates aiming for another shot at World Cup glory.
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