The Manchester City footballer Benjamin Mendy will remain in custody before a potential trial on rape charges after a bail application was refused.
The 27-year-old French international has been in custody at HMP Altcourse in Merseyside since last Friday, when he appeared at Chester magistrates court charged with four counts of rape and one of sexual assault.
On Wednesday, a further bail application was made at Chester crown court in a hearing held behind closed doors, which lasted about 50 minutes. Mendy did not attend court.
The honorary recorder of Chester, Judge Steven Everett, refused the application, a court spokesperson said.
Mendy is charged with attacks on three women, including one under 18, at his home in Prestbury, Cheshire. Three of the rapes are alleged to have taken place in October 2020, and he is accused of sexually assaulting a woman in early January this year. He is also charged with raping a woman last month.
The footballer, who has been suspended by the club pending investigation, is due to appear at Chester crown court on 10 September.
A second man, aged 40, was arrested on suspicion of rape as part of the police investigation into the allegations and was released on bail, Cheshire constabulary said.
Source: The Guardian