Paedophile football coach is linked to four suicides... including Gary Speed
FORMER Wales football manager Gary Speed was one of four men who went on to take their lives after being coached by a convicted paedophile, a court heard yesterday.
Barry Bennell is on trial for molesting youngsters in changing rooms, his car and his home over more than a decade.
Yesterday a victim who Bennell has admitted abusing told how he tried to contact the parents of former Everton and Newcastle United star Speed after he hanged himself in 2011 aged 42.
He told the jury at Liverpool Crown Court: ‘Four people from teams I have played with, with Bennell, have taken their own lives.
‘Whether they have taken their lives due to Barry solely I don’t know but all I know is how it’s had an impact on me and how it could impact on other people.’
Bennell was jailed for nine years in 1998 after he admitted abusing the man.
The victim said he wanted to get in touch with Speed’s parents after reading in a newspaper that they had not been able to get closure because they had no explanation for his death.
Of contacting other alleged victims of Bennell, he said: ‘When people are breaking down on the phone, on the verge of suicide, when you hear of people who have taken their own lives...’
Speed, a father of two who was capped 85 times by Wales, was found hanged in the garage of his Cheshire home.
Lawyers acting for his widow Louise have previously put out a statement saying he was not one of Bennell’s victims. In 2016 Speed’s father Roger said: ‘Gary wouldn’t have it. Honestly, no way. He was old enough in the head even at that age he knew what he wanted. He was a clever lad.’
Bennell, 64, who worked as a coach for various youth teams including Crewe Alexandra’s, denies 48 offences of child sexual abuse against 11 complainants between 1979 and 1990.
The victim told the court he knew of former youth players who had been left ‘destitute’ and with alcohol problems.
Asked about claiming compensation, he told the court: ‘For me, it’s about justice. I’m sick to death of this being part of my life and I just want to put it to bed once and for all.’
Bennell, who changed his name to Richard Jones, is appearing in court via videolink due to illness. The case continues.