Ex-Crewe coach Bennell charged over child sexual abuse

London (AFP) – Former Crewe coach Barry Bennell has been charged with four further counts of non-recent child sexual abuse, the Crown Prosecution Service announced on Thursday.

Bennell, 63, is due to appear at South Cheshire Magistrates’ Court via video-link on March 13 to face the four indecent assault charges, which relate to a boy aged 11 to 12 between 1981 and 1982.

“Today, 9 March, former professional football coach Barry Bennell, 63, was informed that he has been charged with four counts of indecent assault on a boy aged 11 to 12 years,” a CPS spokesman said.

On Tuesday, the Crown Prosecution Service announced Bennell also faces eight counts of non-recent child sexual abuse, having been charged with five counts of buggery with a boy aged under 16, two counts of indecent assault on a boy aged under 14 and one count of indecent assault on a boy aged under 16.

The former Crewe youth team coach, who now faces 20 sexual abuse allegations, has previously been charged with seven counts of indecent assault on a boy and one count of attempted buggery.

Those offences were alleged to have happened between 1981 and 1986, when the victim was under the age of 16.

He pleaded not guilty to those charges at Chester Crown Court in January and was remanded in custody until a further hearing on March 20.