My car has 15mm of free play on cold start. After 5min of driving the free play is around 5mm?? Not sure why this is so but I think it is to do with the master cylinder O-rings or some sort of clearance issue with aging or something else. Anyway, if there was only 5mm of free play when cold then you will get partial clutch disengagement when car is running for a while or warms up.
Anywho, you're mechanic should have checked this and should have also noticed the clutch was ok when removed.
Funny how a bit of knowledge can save a lot of time and money.