Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
EXCLUSIVE: HUSBAND’S AGONY
Dad tells how football beast seduced mum on hols
A DEVASTATED dad today tells how his wife fell for soccer paedophile Barry Bennell – and took their daughter to stay with the fiend.
The father has been left tormented by pictures of his ex and his girl with Bennell, who has his arms around them.
The wife walked out to be with the youth team coach after meeting him on a family holiday to Gran Canaria in 2007.
Last week the pervert, who worked at Manchester City and Crewe Alexandra, was jailed for 31 years for a catalogue of offences against boy footballers.
But the shocked father believes his ex is standing by Bennell, 64.
The jilted 59-year-old dad, who only learned of Bennell’s past two years ago, said: “It’s bad enough to lose your wife to another man. But when I discovered Bennell’s history I was appalled.
“I would like to ask my ex-wife what she knew about Bennell and when she knew. To think my daughter has been near this monster is horrifying.”
The father also told how he:
Needed heart surgery as the stress of his wife’s relationship with Bennell mounted.
Believes the shamed coach brainwashed her into moving in with him.
Brawled with Bennell in the street after finally confronting him.
Longs to be reunited with his daughter after she sided with her mum’s new man.
Was shocked to learn his ex and daughter had visited Bennell in jail.
The father, who cannot be identified, had been with his wife for 20 years – and married for nine – when they went on holiday to the Canary Islands. Their daughter was 11 and their son was nine.
BOASTING
The dad went on: “He was there, lounging around, boasting about his money and his cars and his big house, how he’d been a football coach in the US.
“He was full of himself. But he only told half the story didn’t he? He forgot to mention that he was a paedophile who’d done two stints in jail.
“He loved sunbathing, tanning himself up, sitting round the pool, watching the kids. I’d take the kids to the beach but my wife would stay chatting to him.
“Before this we were a happy family. I never thought she would go for him.
“He was an old man, he wasn’t even good looking. He had this young lad with him, in his mid 20s, who he said was his carer. He’d carry his bags and drive if they went out.
“I didn’t have a clue what Bennell really was. He was just ‘Barry’ from the holiday.”
The dad, a delivery driver from North Yorks, later found out his wife had been secretly contacting Bennell on their return and once visited him on the pretence of going Christmas shopping in London.
She denied cheating. But then the dad came home to find a note saying: “I’ve gone and I won’t be coming back.”
The dad recalled: “She dropped the kids at school and said ‘something awful is going to happen today, but don’t worry, everything will be all right’. Then she left. It was the worst time, the kids came home and I had to tell them their mum’s gone. They hid under their beds crying.”
Weeks later the dad suffered a massive heart attack. He added: “There were underlying problems but the stress didn’t help. “I had a triple bypass – so unlike him, at least I know I have a heart. “She was the perfect mother, but he brainwashed her. She told the kids she was living in Milton Keynes.
“As soon as I heard that I thought ‘Barry’. “But I still didn’t know who he really was. My daughter would visit every couple of weeks but my son wouldn’t go. With hindsight I can’t put into words how happy I am he made that decision.”
He said Bennell copied DVDs and computer games and sent them to his son – but the lad still wasn’t interested.
As his daughter got older, Bennell and his ex would lavish her with gifts – cash, bags and even a blue Ford Ka convertible to use when she visited.
DIVORCE
His wife filed for divorce in 2008-09 and sought official access to the kids.
The dad said: “I had to stand in front of a judge at York magistrates. She made no mention of who she was with. Barry wasn’t mentioned. If she had, then proper checks may have been done and we may have found out he was a paedophile.
“In the end the judge said the children could decide if they wanted to go. Thank God my son didn’t, he wasn’t interested.”
It would be another seven years before