Barry Bennell: Former football coach found guilty of seven more abuse charges

'A predatory paedophile who groomed and abused young boys who dreamed of a career in professional football'

The former football coach was on trial at Liverpool Crown Court (PA)

Disgraced former football coach Barry Bennell has been found guilty of the final seven of 50 sexual abuse charges levelled against him

The paedophile has now been convicted of a total of 43 counts of child sex abuse against 11 victims.

However, it can now be reported that he may have assaulted almost 100 boys. It is understood that 86 more alleged victims have come forward to report abuse by him.

Bennell who served time in jail for child sexual abuse in the 1990s, had already been convicted of abusing 15 boys in the UK and one boy in America.

The jury at Liverpool Crown Court found the 64-year-old guilty of three counts of indecent assault after deliberating for 21 hours and seven minutes.

Two of the verdicts were reached by a majority of 10 to one and one was made unanimously.

Bennell appeared in court via videolink from prison, wearing a green jumper over a purple polo shirt. He appeared to be muttering at times during the verdict.

Earlier this week the former Crewe Alexandra coach and Manchester City coach was convicted of 27 counts of indecent assault, seven counts of buggery and two counts of attempted buggery.

Before the trial he pleaded guilty to seven counts of indecent assault involving three boys, two of whom were part of the trial heard by the Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Clement Goldstone QC.

During the trial, the court heard Bennell compared to the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as he invited boys to his house where he had arcade games, a pool table, videos and exotic pets including a puma and a monkey.

In his closing speech, Nicholas Johnson QC, prosecuting, said: "We suggest Mr Bennell is a child molester on an industrial scale and that's why he went to these lengths to get so many lads round to his house."

In transcripts of police interviews which were read in court, Bennell, who has changed his name to Richard Jones, told the police about his grooming process and abuse of boys, but claimed the complainants in the case were "jumping on the bandwagon" following publicity.

He chose not to appear in the witness box and no evidence was called by the defence.

Eleanor Laws QC, defending, described Bennell as a "sitting target" and asked jurors to put their "understandable potential revulsion" aside when considering verdicts.

One of Bennell's victims, who he had pleaded guilty to abusing in 1998, previously told the jury he knew of four men who had been coached by Bennell, including former Wales manager Gary Speed, who had gone on to take their own lives.

But the jury was later told there was no evidence to link their deaths to Bennell.

Bennell has served three previous jail terms, totalling 15 years, for child sex offences against 17 young boys.

Jackie Lamb from the Crown Prosecution Service paid tribute to the victims who came forward in the latest trial.

“Barry Bennell is a predatory paedophile who groomed and abused young boys who dreamed of a career in professional football,” she said. “He claimed his accusers were making up stories about him following previous convictions and stories in the media but thanks to the evidence from his victims, the CPS and police were able to build a strong case to expose Bennell’s denials as lies.

“Because of the scale of Bennell’s offending, the prosecution faced a number of challenges, including selecting charges which would adequately reflect the scale and seriousness of what Bennell did. The indictment before the court properly reflected that offending and will allow the court to sentence appropriately.

“I would like to pay tribute to the victims who have come forward to give evidence against him and I hope this outcome gives them some sense of justice being done after so many years.”

Bennell is due to be sentenced next week.

Additional reporting by Press Assocation