At Chester Crown Court, six allegations of rape and one count of sexual assault against Manchester City football player Benjamin Mendy were dismissed.

After a six-month trial, the jury was unable to reach a conviction on one allegation of rape and one count of attempted rape.

The 41-year-old Louis Saha Matturie, a friend of Mr. Mendy, was charged with several sex offenses against underage girls.

At Chester Crown Court, Mr. Matturie was also found not responsible for three counts of rape.

Three counts of rape and three counts of sexual assault against him were not found guilty by the jury.

As the jury foreman repeatedly said “not guilty” to the six counts, which pertained to four young women or teenagers, Mr. Mendy covered his face with both hands.

The seven men and four women on the panel, one of whom had already been excused for medical reasons, delivered their unanimous verdicts on Wednesday.

Jurors were granted a majority instruction by Judge Steven Everett, who stated that he would accept a result of 10-1 as long as they had finished deliberating the other two counts.