Evidence from paedophile football coach Barry Bennell has been heard for the first time at the High Court.
Extracts from a witness statement provided to lawyers acting on behalf of Manchester City from prison by the serial child sex offender were referred to on Tuesday, as the club faces compensation claims from eight men who say Bennell abused them while he was in a relationship with City that was ‘akin to employment’.
City dispute the claims made by the group, now in their 40s and 50s, which relate to the period 1979 to 1985.
Barry Bennell is currently serving a 34-year sentence for child abuse at Littlehey Prison
Later this month, Bennell, 67, and previously described by a judge as ‘sheer evil’ and ‘the devil incarnate’, is due to appear via videolink from Littlehey Prison, Cambridgeshire, where he is serving a 34-year sentence.