‘Devil incarnate’ Bennell is jailed
Serial abuser is warned that he may die in prison
COURT: Serial paedophile Barry Bennell has been branded “the devil incarnate” by a judge who warned the sex offender that he may die in prison after jailing him for 30 years for abusing 12 young footballers he coached.
The former Crewe coach and Manchester City scout was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court of 50 child sexual offences.
SERIAL PAEDOPHILE Barry Bennell has been branded “the devil incarnate” by a judge who warned the sex offender that he may die in prison after jailing him for 30 years for abusing 12 young footballers he coached.
The former Crewe Alexandra coach and Manchester City scout was convicted at Liverpool Crown Court of 50 child sexual offences which he committed between 1979 and 1991.
Bennell, 64, pictured right in 1995,
may have more than 100 victims in total as an additional 86 complainants have come forward to say they too were abused by him.
Sentencing Bennell yesterday, the Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Clement Goldstone QC, told him: “Your behaviour towards these boys in grooming and seducing them before subjecting them to, in some cases, the most serious, degrading and humiliating abuse was sheer evil.” He said Bennell had appeared to his victims as a god, but added: “In reality, you were the devil incarnate. You stole their childhoods and their innocence to satisfy your own perversion.”
Bennell had shown no remorse for his offences of serious sexual offences and indecent assault, with the exception of some relatively minor abuse he admitted, added the judge. As the judge recapped the individual offences, Bennell regularly shook his head in the dock and also sighed, mouthed “no”, smirked, raised his eyebrows and looked to the ceiling. Judge Goldstone said Bennell’s abuse had left a “trail of psychological devastation” and destroyed the enthusiasm that his victims had for playing football.
This had led to “zero” prospects of a career in professional football and resulting problems including suicidal thoughts, alcoholism and depression, he continued.
He said: “Each has suffered and now, more than 30 to 35 years after you ruined these boys’, now men’s, lives, continues to suffer.”
Bennell looked at the floor and nodded as the judge sentenced him before he smirked again as he was led from the dock. Some members of the public began to applaud as he was sent down, but were stopped by the judge.
Bennell will serve half his sentence in custody and will then be released on licence unless the Parole Board considers he poses a risk to the public.
He will also serve an additional 12 months on licence after completing his jail term. His time on remand since his arrest in November 2016 will count towards his sentence.
However, the judge said Bennell – who is said to be in “poor health” after the removal of two cancerous tumours in his mouth – “may well die in prison”.
Bennell has already served three jail terms for similar offences involving 16 other victims.
The judge noted that Bennell had not taken the opportunity to “wipe the slate clean” in 1998 before he was jailed for nine years.
Earlier in the hearing, one of his victims walked over to the courtroom dock and calmly said: “Barry. Barry. Why?”
Police officer Gary Cliffe read out his victim personal statement from the witness box and then approached the glass dock.
Bennell did not respond and looked down as a dock officer sat behind the defendant stood up and an usher intervened before a court police officer escorted Mr Cliffe, a Detective Constable with Staffordshire Police, to his seat in the packed public gallery.
Mr Cliffe, who has waived his anonymity, was one of four complainants who went into the witness box at Liverpool Crown Court to read their statements, while those of three others were read out by prosecutor Nicholas Johnson QC.
Speaking outside court, another victim, Andy Woodward, whose decision to go public led to the latest trial, admitted that he had mixed emotions after Bennell was jailed.
He said: “No sentence is long enough for that man and right to the death he didn’t show any remorse or say sorry to anyone.”