Many people were warned. So how COULD this vile paedophile have got away with his crimes for so long?
Football coach guilty of 43 abuse charges
THE FA and two professional football clubs were accused last night over the failure to stop a predatory football coach who can now be exposed as one of Britain’s worst paedophiles.
They were accused of ignoring a string of warnings over the behaviour of Barry Bennell, 64, following his conviction on a total of 43 sex abuse charges, relating to attacks on 11 boys.
It can now be revealed that police are investigating up to 86 more victims targeted by the monster, who has already served jail time for abusing another 16 victims.
It means Bennell, who was said to have an ‘insatiable appetite’ for young boys, could potentially have abused more than 100 victims. He is likely to die in prison.
However, at the conclusion of his trial, several whistleblowers came forward to allege bosses at both Manchester City and Crewe Alexandra – where Bennell coached – and at the Football Association were warned about his behaviour, but hushed it up or failed to act. On a dramatic day:
Campaigners and victims likened the scale of Bennell’s offending to that of Jimmy Savile at the BBC and accused clubs of putting their reputations ahead of boys’ safety;
Manchester City revealed it had identified a second abuser operating at the club as part of a £1million 50-year review into sex abuse;
Former Wales manager Gary Speed’s parents confirmed their son was interviewed by police investigating Bennell but insisted he was never abused.
As well as the 43 charges he was convicted of, Bennell admitted seven more relating to a 12th victim at the start of his Liverpool Crown Court trial.
The latest convictions represented the fourth time he has been convicted of serious sexual offending, including child rape, following cases in Florida and Chester in 1994, 1998 and 2015. During the five-week trial, the jury heard that he abused the boys, aged between eight and 15, in his car, at his home and on football tours between 1979 and 1991. Many plan to sue the clubs.
Victim Gary Cliffe, who was molested while at Manchester City, said: ‘ If those in positions of responsibility had challenged Bennell, hundreds of wrecked lives could have been saved. They buried their heads.’
Steve Walters, who was abused at Crewe, added: ‘For years hundreds of us were groomed in plain view.
‘Our abuse is punctuated by the failure of adults to protect innocent children.’
Four players coached by Bennell – including Speed – went on to take their own lives, the jury were told. However, the court heard that there was no evidence to link their deaths to Bennell.
Speed’s mother, Carol, 72, of Queensferry, North Wales, said last night: ‘Gary was interviewed twice by police and said nothing had taken place. That’s all we know. He was not coached by Bennell for very long.’ Her husband, Roger, 74, added: ‘I was there every time Gary was with Bennell. I am confident that nothing happened. I am positive, Gary would have said.’
It was reported that Bennell swapped young victims with other paedophiles, including Frank Roper, a football scout who abused England star Paul Stewart. Roper died 11 years ago.
In the early 80s, cancer patient Bennell also allegedly teamed up with paedophile coach Bruce McLean, who was jailed in 1997.
At Manchester City, where Bennell was as an unofficial scout from 1982 to 1985, rumours were apparently rife about his behaviour. But he was such a good coach that nobody wanted to listen.
Former FA youth coach Steve Fleet said it was ‘general knowledge’ that Bennell was ‘dodgy’. He told Sportsmail: ‘You’d hear it on the coaching circuit. “Don’t touch him with a bargepole – there’s something not right about him.” It was the gossip.
‘It was nauseating. The kids would all follow him. The way he spoke to them, it was like baby talk, he was too familiar with them.’
Fleet, 79, said he passed on his concerns to Ken Barnes, the club’s chief scout who died in 2010.
‘The only confrontation we ever had was over Barry Bennell,’ said Fleet. ‘I told him – I can’t work with him. I put my job on the line.
‘I think Ken thought football was a man’s game where it couldn’t happen. Maybe he was naive.’
Police who later interviewed senior management at City for Florida investigators said the club was ‘evasive’ when quizzed about the reasons for Bennell’s 1985 departure.
Bennell moved to League Two outfit Crewe, where for the next seven years he groomed boys on an ‘industrial scale.’ Lord Carlile, QC, who prosecuted the 1998 case against Bennell accused Crewe of ‘brushing abuse under the carpet’. Both Crewe and City are conducting their own investigations and
‘Hundreds of wrecked lives’ ‘Brushing abuse under the carpet’
have co-operated with the Cheshire police inquiry. Sources say more prosecutions could follow.
Last night Crewe insisted it had no idea Bennell was a child abuser until he was convicted of raping a boy of 13 in 1994.
Manchester City extended its sympathy to victims as it revealed it had identified another abuser – John Broome – who was operating at the club in the late 1960s. The FA urged anyone affected to contact their inquiry team.
Kim Harrison, a specialist abuse lawyer from Slater and Gordon, said: ‘Serious questions need to be asked about how this dangerous rapist was allowed to carry out years of abuse on so many young boys in plain sight, much as Savile did at the BBC.’ Bennell will be sentenced on Monday.