Man City's Benjamin Mendy switched to new and tougher prison 'amid safety fears'

Manchester City defender Benjamin Mendy has been transferred to one of Britain's toughest prisons in the wake of concerns for his safety, it has been claimed.

The former Monaco man has been charged with multiple counts of rape and one count of sexual assault and spent the Christmas period locked up in top-security Strangeways prison.

Mendy was driven from Liverpool 's category-B HMP Altcourse to his new Manchester-based jail on December 23, along with co-defendant 40-year-old Louis Saha Matturie.

One source told The Sun : "Both Mendy and Matturie have been moved because their case is so high profile.

"That can lead to safety and prisoner management issues and it was felt Category A conditions might be better equipped to deal with any potential issues.

"The Prison Service has a responsibility to manage prisoners in the safest way possible."

Mendy is now apparently at Strangeways, officially called HMP Manchester.

An inspection on the prison conducted in September of 2020 reported that many of the 624 criminals it hosts are locked up in their cell for up to a staggering 22 hours a day.

A source familiar with the prison explained how football tribalism could play a part in his experience: "He won't know what's hit him coming from Altcourse, which is a privately run prison.

"It's one of the toughest jails in the country. His other problem will be the amount of Man United fans in there.

"They will be screaming his name for weeks so he won't be getting much sleep, especially as he's charged with sex offences.

"There are a lot of Blues' fans there as well, but even the most avid will struggle to protect an alleged sex offender."

Mendy is accused of eight offences against five different women, including seven counts of rape relating to four women and a charge of sexual assault against the fifth.

Co-defendant Matturie faces six counts of rape and one of sexual assault.

Both remain on remand, a further pre-trial hearing will take place this coming Friday (7 January), though Mendy's trial will now start on either 27 June or 1 August.

Both Her Majesty's Prison Service and the Ministry of Justice declined to comment on Mendy's alleged prison switch.