Nathaniel Mendez-Laing Charged with Assaulting Wife

Nathaniel Mendez-Laing has appeared in court charged with assaulting his wife, an allegation the MK Dons winger firmly denies.

The 34-year-old, who once lit up the Premier League with Cardiff City and previously played for Wolves, is accused of attacking his wife, Saira, at their home in Shenstone, Staffordshire, in June.

He arrived at Cannock magistrates’ court on Friday on crutches, offering only brief confirmation of his name, age and address as he stood in the dock. He faces one count of assault by beating.

The court heard that police were called to the couple’s luxury property after an incident in which Saira, the mother of Mendez-Laing’s child, was allegedly struck repeatedly over the head and suffered an arm injury. The dispute is said to have started with a “disagreement about a phone”. Mendez-Laing denies carrying out any physical attack.

Charges were authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service last month. District Judge Joseph O’Connor granted the player conditional bail and listed the case for trial in January next year.

Mendez-Laing, born in Birmingham, represents the Guatemala national team through his mother and maternal grandmother, both of whom were born in the Central American country. He scored four goals in 20 Premier League appearances for Cardiff in the 2019/20 season before leaving the Welsh club in September 2020.

Off the pitch, his life appeared settled. Mendez-Laing and Saira were married in June last year, with MK Dons publicly congratulating the couple by sharing a photograph from their wedding day on the club’s official social media channels.

Now he returns to the headlines for starkly different reasons. MK Dons, currently 19th in League One, said it could not comment on an ongoing court case.