Legal proceedings against Manchester United striker Mason Greenwood, who was accused of attempted rape and assault on his former girlfriend, have been dropped, British police announced on Thursday.
The 21-year-old footballer, “who was arrested and prosecuted in an investigation opened in January 2021, is no longer facing criminal charges,” Greater Manchester Police said in a statement.
Mason Greenwood was charged last October for acts he allegedly committed on Harriet Robson between 2018 and 2022. The English international (1 selection in 2020) appeared during his hearing last November. A release on bail had been requested pending his trial, set for the end of November 2023. Great hope of English football, he was arrested in January 2022 after photos and videos were posted on social networks showing a young woman his face bleeding, with bruises on his body. “To anyone who wants to know what Mason Greenwood is actually doing to me,” read the comment accompanying the posts.
He had been accused by the same complainant of attempted rape and assault for acts allegedly committed in 2021, as well as controlling and coercive behavior, acts which had started according to the prosecution in 2018. Released in February 2022 , then reincarcerated for not having respected his judicial control, he was released last October.
Trained at Manchester United, Greenwood made his professional debut for the Red Devils in 2019. In 129 appearances, he scored 35 goals. In February 2021, he extended his contract until 2025. Within hours of the accusations, Manchester United suspended him.
His arrest sparked the second major sex scandal affecting Manchester clubs after the arrest of Benjamin Mendy, City’s French full-back, who was found not guilty last month of six rapes and is awaiting a new trial for a seventh.