Man City wins trial against eight sexually abused men by pedophilia coach

Eight men who indicted Manchester City after complaining that they had been abused by pedophile Barry Bennell more than 30 years ago today lost a war in the Supreme Court to hold the club partly responsible.

The group, now in their 40s and 50s, said Bennell, 68, abused them when they were playing student football for the teams he led in northwest England between 1979 and 1985.

They claimed that Bennell, who became a coach at Crewe Alexandra in 1985, was City's scout at the time of abuse, and because the relationship between Bennell and City was either an employment relationship or similar to employment, the club was responsible. for their destruction.

The eight claimed compensation for psychiatric injuries, while six also tried to sue for the loss of revenue from football. However, Mr. Justice Johnson decided this morning in favour of City, with the group now set to appeal.

Justice Johnson said the link between Bennell's abuse and relationship with City was insufficient to create substitute responsibility.

The relationship gave Bennell the opportunity to commit abuse, but the MCFC had not entrusted the Bennell players' contracts to him, the judge said.

This means that the MCFC is not legally responsible for Bennell abuse acts. )

Justice Johnson also ruled that claims were raised too late to result in a fair trial.

He said that while each of the contenders had a good explanation for the delay, the evidence was less clear than they would have been if the claims were presented in part because a key witness died in 2010.

The judge said: “is not fair, after all these years, to achieve a binding definition on the MCFC's responsibility for abuse based on partial evidence still available.

That's why I reject any claim that it's out of date. ”

Bennell, who is in prison after being convicted of a series of sexual violations against children in recent years, denied being linked to Manchester City during the 1980s.

He told the judge that he had been a local City scout between 1975 and 1979, but not between 1979 and 1985.

Bennell, who testified in court through a video connection from HMP Littleley, near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, where he was being held, said that reality was that he never was City coach and, after 1978/1979, the youth teams he ran had no connection with City.

Lawyer David McClenaghan, who represented the men, said: My clients and I are both shocked and shocked by the decision of the Supreme Court given today, which refused to give them considerable compensation in their claims against the Manchester City football club for abuse suffered by hands. Barry Bennell's”, he said.

In the continuation of the scandal, which erupted in 2016, City set up a dutyless compensation scheme that has seen payments of about 4 million pounds per 64 individuals.