Details emerge on what Benjamin Mendy could expect in his prison

November 18, 2021

Grim details emerge on what Benjamin Mendy could expect in his prison as he faces a total of six counts of rape and one of sexual assault.

The 27 year old footballer has been kept in Liverpool’s HMP Altcourse since October, and has already thrown a paddy after he had initially hope he would be placed in a ‘VIP wing’.

The Merseyside prison is reportedly riddled with a ‘tangled web of gangs’ and despite the pandemic and those inside being kept behind bars more than usual no doubt due to guidelines, 338 assaults still took place in the last year

Benjamin Mendy’s inmates are revealed to have attacked one another with makeshift weapons – including such items as razor blades concealed inside toothbrushes.

ALSO READ : RAPE CHARGES: Benjamin Mendy denied bail

The £52million international footballer was arrested at his home in August following allegations of sexual abuse.

However the Man City defender was remanded in custody and hasn’t been allowed to return to his £5million mansion in Cheshire as the multiple rape charges were issued.

He was transported from court to the Category B prison on the 1st of October, and is now expected stay there until his trial next year after three of his bail pleas were rejected.

He had been placed on the VP wing for vulnerable prisoners, though he misunderstood it and thought he was going to a “VIP wing” instead.

One prison guard is often forced to spend “considerable time” tackling the antics from gangs within the prison walls at Altcourse.

From July 2020 to June 2021, it’s claimed that there were 338 assaults within the prison – and in 35 incidents, a weapon was used by inmates.

53 of the attacks resulted in police referrals for prosecution, while one prisoner received a further 10 months added onto their sentence for melting a razor blade into a toothbrush.

This averages out to 29 assaults for each month – which is nearly one attack a day.

The annual report by the Independent Monitoring Board revealed: “The prison’s local and urban catchment area has led to more conflict which takes place in the community moving inside the walls.

“To this end one officer spends considerable time trying to unpick the tangled web of Liverpool gangs.

“During the reporting period the average prison population was 1113 with the number of assaults averaging 29 per month which represents slightly over 2 per cent.

“Of these, 21 were prisoner on prisoner and 8 on staff.”

The report goes on: “Of the total number of 338 assaults throughout this year, there were 35 incidents of weapon use and 53 police referrals for prosecution.”

HMP Altcourse is also allegedly having a substance misuse problem with a large amount of illicit drugs being smuggled into the prison constant, yet there are no social visits while exercise yards are limited.

It’s understood there hasn’t been drug testing inmates during the pandemic – admitting that the amount of time prisoners spent in their cells may have “hidden” the problem – leading for it to grow out of control.

There has been an increase in foreign national “high risk” prisoners, with the prison’s English language education course “heavily oversubscribed.”

While the attacks between inmates “remaining steady” for 2021, the report sattes the numbers perhaps weren’t higher because “prisoners are locked up for most of the day.”

Mendy has been accused of attacking four women, all over 16, between October 2020 and August 2021, and was charged over two additional rapes – on top of the four he was already facing.

He is yet to enter pleas to the charges and appeared at Stockport Magistrates’ Court on the 17th of November while scheduled to go on trial on the 24th of January 2022.

Last month, a judge denied Mendy any hope of bail, his third application for it, at a 50-minute hearing at Chester Crown Court.

Manchester City suspended the Premier League left-back in August, pending an investigation.

In a statement, the Premier League outfit said: “Manchester City can confirm that following his being charged by police today, Benjamin Mendy has been suspended pending an investigation.

“The matter is subject to a legal process and the club is therefore unable to make further comment until that process is complete.”

He is no longer shown on the club’s official online shop, with fans unable to purchase shirts with his name and number on the back.

It’s impossible to search for “Mendy” in the search bar and users can’t browse Mendy products under the “shop by player” option despite him remaining on the squad list with a full bio detailing his career.