Paedophile football coach Bennell dies in prison

A judge described Barry Bennell as "the devil incarnate"

Paedophile former football coach Barry Bennell has died in prison aged 70.

Bennell, also known as Richard Jones, was jailed for 30 years in 2018 after being convicted of 52 child sexual offences against 12 boys.

At times he posed as having connections to Manchester City while committing the abuse, between 1979 and 1991.

A judge at Liverpool Crown Court described him as "the devil incarnate" when he was sentenced to a further four years in 2020.

A Prison Service spokesperson said: "Prisoner Barry Bennell died at HMP Littlehey on 16 September 2023. As with all deaths in custody, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman will investigate."

When he was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court in 2018, Recorder of Liverpool Judge Clement Goldstone QC said he "may well die in prison".

His final prison sentence, in 2020, was the fifth time he had been jailed.

At that hearing, the court was told he had a detached retina after being attacked in prison and was in remission from cancer.

Bennell, a former Manchester City scout, abused boys he coached in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

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