Statement By Lawyer After Former Football Coach Sentenced To Four More Years In Jail For Sexual Abuse

• Published date: 26 November 2020
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Criminal Law, Discrimination, Disability & Sexual Harassment, Crime
• Law Firm: Leigh Day
• Author: Leigh Day

A former football coach who is already serving a 30-year prison sentence for child abuse has been sentenced to four years in prison for sexual abuse of two more complainants, one of whom is represented by Leigh Day lawyers.

Barry Bennell, aged 66 and also known as Richard Jones, is a former coach for Crewe Alexandra FC and also worked as a scout for Manchester City Football Club.

On 31 July 2020, Bennell pleaded guilty to nine sexual offences, three counts of buggery and six counts of indecent assault at Chester Crown Court in relation to two complainants between 1979 and 1988. The victims were aged between 11 and 14 at the time.

Bennell, who appeared by video-link from HMP Littlehey, Cambridgeshire, where he is currently serving a 30-year jail sentence after being convicted of 52 child sexual offences in 2018, was told by the Judge Patrick Thompson that the sentence would be served consecutively to his current prison term, meaning a...