By Tim Parsons-
Former football coach Barry Bennell was a “devious paedophile” who subjected boys to hundreds of sexual assaults. He also threatened to end their hopes of becoming professional footballers if they reported him, the opening day of his trial heard.
63 year old Bennell, admitted to police that he was attracted to 13-year-olds because they were “pedigree footballers who were athletes and good-looking” . However, he allegedly identified boys as young as nine.
Liverpool crown court heard that Bennell had a way of gaining the trust of their parents. Quite clearly, his position as a football coach would have made many parents trust and warm up to him. They would have seen him as the key to a bright future for their children.
Bennell used his reputation as an influential figure within the sport to groom victims before manipulating them to a sinister hand game he called “Follow me” . He eventually escalated his attacks including oral sex and buggery.
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The deprave former football coach was a key figure in football and an asset to have for many parents. Deep down, he was an animal who amounted to every parent’s worst nightmare. Many of his victims said Bennell had abused them more than 100 times.
Nick Johnson, prosecuting, said Bennell would “soften” his victims by playing horror films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street when they were staying with him overnight and, on one trip away, one of the boys woke to found a sheep’s head at the bottom of his bed. Johnson alleged that Bennell was deliberately frightening them to make them “more receptive” and that he would often share his bed two at a time.
Bennell’s subjected the boys to a grooming process which included turning his house into what one of the alleged victims called a children’s “paradise”. His idea of a children’s paradise included a menagerie of exotic pets including a wild cat and a monkey.
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Bennell gave the boys sports kit and ordered them fast-food takeaways as well as having a pool table and so many gaming machines another boy described the house being like an amusement arcade.
Bennell has admitted seven charges of sexually abusing three boys, aged 11 to 14, but denies 48 other counts relating to 11 boys from 1979 to 1991.
Benell has served prison sentences in England and America for child sex offences in football. However, he claimed that the complainants were “jumping on the bandwagon and maliciously making up stories … motivated by attention-seeking or the prospect of compensation”.
One disturbing account told in court was when a youth-team player at Crewe returned to the dressing-room at Gresty Road, the club’s ground, because he had left behind a pair of boots. The jury heard that when he walked through the doors he found Bennell abusing one of the other boys. “Bennell jumped up, clearly surprised and said, ‘What the fuck do you think you are doing?’”
The case continues.
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