Former Football Coach, Barry Bennell, Jailed 31 Years For Serial Child Abuse

Ex-football coach Barry Bennell has been jailed for 31 years at Liverpool Crown Court for 50 counts of child sexual abuse.

Bennell, described as the “devil incarnate” by the judge, was convicted of abusing 12 boys aged eight to 15 between 1979 and 1991.

Judge Clement Goldstone QC said Bennell, 64, was “sheer evil”.

He will serve half of a 30-year sentence in custody, with the rest on licence.

He was also sentenced to an additional year on licence.

Bennell shook his head as the judge sentenced him and there was clapping from the public gallery as he left court.

“To those boys you appeared as a god… in reality you were the devil incarnate,” Judge Goldstone said.

“You stole their childhoods and their innocence.”

Bennell remained impassive in the dock, staring at the floor, as victims’ statements were read.

He was ordered to attend Liverpool Crown Court for the hearing, having previously appeared via video-link throughout the five-week trial due to illness.

The BBC’s John Harrison, in court, said seven of the 11 jurors came back to hear the sentencing.

The judge said Bennell, who worked at Manchester City and Crewe Alexandra, was “hell-bent” on abusing boys, and left a “trail of psychological devastation”.

“If the boys tried to resist, you convinced them their football careers would suffer,” he said.

Outside court, victim Andy Woodward 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.

“I’m proud that I did speak out. If I hadn’t we all wouldn’t be standing here now today.”

Another victim, Micky Fallon, said: “Today we looked evil in the face and smiled because, Barry Bennell, we have won.”

Gary Cliffe, another victim, said: “We did not forget, we came after you, Bennell, and now you are in prison due to us.”

He urged other victims to come forward, saying: “The hurt is not yours to carry, it is his.”

And Chris Unsworth added: “This is a testament that love will always conquer evil.”

In a statement outside court, Bennell was described as a “predatory paedophile” by Cheshire Police’s detective inspector Sarah Oliver.

“To this day there is no evidence that he has any remorse or regret for the dreams he has shattered and the lives he has damaged,” she added.

She said that although “no term of imprisonment can ever return a childhood taken away… I hope that this sentence will serve as a beacon of light to others that have been abused”.