Paedophile football coach Barry Bennell has been convicted of sexually abusing 11 young players – some of whom said they were molested more than 100 times.
Bennell – once described as the ‘Jimmy Savile of football’ – abused youngsters at his lavish home, at a Butlin’s holiday park, in his car or on football tours.
After being convicted of 36 child sex offences earlier this week, a jury at Liverpool Crown Court today found him guilty of seven more charges. He had pleaded guilty to seven additional counts before the trial.
Bennell, who worked with Crewe Alexandra, Stoke City and Manchester City in the 1980s and 90s, has previously received three jail sentences for similar offences.
Paedophile Barry Bennell has been found guilty of three further counts of child sex abuse
During the trial, the court has heard Bennell compared to the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as he invited boys to his house where he had arcade games, a pool table, videos and exotic pets including a puma and a monkey.
In his closing speech, Nicholas Johnson QC, prosecuting, said: ‘We suggest Mr Bennell is a child molester on an industrial scale and that’s why he went to these lengths to get so many lads round to his house.’
In transcripts of police interviews which were read in court, Bennell, who has changed his name to Richard Jones, told the police about his grooming process and abuse of boys, but claimed the complainants in the case were ‘jumping on the bandwagon’ following publicity.
He chose not to appear in the witness box and no evidence was called by the defence.
One of Bennell’s victims, who he had pleaded guilty to abusing in 1998, previously told the jury he knew of four men who had been coached by Bennell, including former Wales manager Gary Speed, who had gone on to take their own lives.
But the jury was later told there was no evidence to link their deaths to Bennell.
Bennell has previously been jailed three times for child sex abuse in the US and Britain
Jackie Lamb, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said after the verdicts were delivered: ‘Barry Bennell is a predatory paedophile who groomed and abused young boys who dreamed of a career in professional football.
‘He claimed his accusers were making up stories about him following previous convictions and stories in the media but thanks to the evidence from his victims, the CPS and police were able to build a strong case to expose Bennell’s denials as lies.
‘Because of the scale of Bennell’s offending, the prosecution faced a number of challenges, including selecting charges which would adequately reflect the scale and seriousness of what Bennell did. The indictment before the court properly reflected that offending and will allow the court to sentence appropriately.
‘I would like to pay tribute to the victims who have come forward to give evidence against him and I hope this outcome gives them some sense of justice being done after so many years.’
Bennell took youngsters to his home, where he had installed arcade games and a pool table
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