Ex-football coach Barry Bennell has been found guilty of multiple sex offences against boys in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
Liverpool Crown Court heard Bennell had a “power hold” over aspiring players aged between eight and 15 and abused them on an “industrial scale”.<\/p>\n
The 64-year-old was convicted of 36 charges including indecent and serious sexual assaults.<\/p>\n
The jury did not reach verdicts on seven counts and will continue their deliberations on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
During the trial the judge had directed them to find Bennell not guilty on three other charges.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors had described Bennell as a “predatory and determined paedophile”.<\/p>\n
They compared him to the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, while his victims described his home as a “paradise” for young boys, where they would play games and be given takeaway food.<\/p>\n
Boys were abused at his home – where he had arcade games and exotic pets including a puma and a monkey – on trips away, and in his car on the way to and from training.<\/p>\n
The youth scout and junior football coach was associated with a number of clubs including Stoke City, Manchester City and, most notably, Crewe Alexandra.<\/p>\n
In his evidence to the court, one victim, Chris Unsworth, said he Bennell had raped him “about half a dozen times”.<\/p>\n
He was a junior footballer playing for his local club and Bennell at the time worked as a scout for Manchester City.<\/p>\n
Bennell was convicted of all five charges against Mr Unsworth, when he was aged between eight and 14.<\/p>\n
The jury of five men and six women had spent four days deliberating.<\/p>\n
Bennell, who is now known as Richard Jones, appeared in court via videolink due to illness.<\/p>\n
The jury was told Bennell had previously received three jail sentences in the UK and in the US after being convicted of abusing boys.<\/p>\n
He chose not to offer any evidence or witnesses in his defence and had told police he was suffering from cancer, which in turn had caused memory problems.<\/p>\n
His barrister accused the complainants of inventing stories about him and “jumping on the bandwagon”.<\/p>\n
Source: bbc.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"