Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy has been found not guilty of one count of rape on the direction of the judge at his trial.
Mendy, 28, was cleared at Chester Crown Court of the rape of a 19-year-old woman at his home in Prestbury, Cheshire, on 24 July last year.
Co-accused Louis Saha Matturie, 41, was also found not guilty of two counts of rape against the same woman.
They remain on trial for alleged sexual offences which they both deny.
On Tuesday Judge Stephen Everett ordered the jury to clear the defendants of those counts after the prosecution offered no further evidence and formal not guilty counts were entered.
He had warned jurors not to speculate as to why the prosecution had decided not to pursue guilty verdicts and to continue to “faithfully” try the defendants on the multiple charges they still face.
