The paedophile football coach Barry Bennell has been taken to hospital after police responded to a “fear for welfare incident” at an address in Stevenage on Friday night, where he was found unconscious.
Bennell, a youth coach who worked for Crewe, Manchester City, Stoke and several junior teams in north-west England and the Midlands, was given a four-year sentence for raping a British boy on a football tour of Florida in 1994 and then a nine-year sentence in 1998 for 23 offences against six boys in England.
The former Crewe player Andy Woodward waived his anonymity this month to tell the Guardian about the abuse he suffered at the hands of Bennell, which has led to a number of other former footballers coming forward to make further allegations of abuse.
A statement from Thames Valley Police said: “Police officers attended an address in Knebworth Park, Stevenage just before 11pm on Friday, November 25th in connection with a fear for welfare incident.
“A 62-year-old man was located and was taken to hospital in order to receive medical treatment, where he remains. At this stage of enquiries, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: “We received a call on Friday at 10.50pm to reports of an unconscious man on Knebworth Park in Stevenage to which we sent an ambulance crew to. The crew arrived within eight minutes to treat the man … before taking him to Lister Hospital for further care.”
More than 20 former players have come forward with allegations of historical child abuse, prompting the Football Association to step up its review. On Sunday the FA instructed the independent leading counsel Kate Gallafent QC to oversee its internal review, assessing “what information the FA was aware of at the relevant times, what clubs were aware of, and what action was or should have been taken”. Her recommendations will be considered but the FA accepts a full, wide-ranging inquiry may yet be necessary.
The Metropolitan Police, Hampshire Police and Cheshire Police have said they are investigating allegations of abuse in the football community. Northumbria Police said it was investigating an allegation by an unnamed former Newcastle player that he was abused in the club’s youth system. Newcastle said they would co-operate with authorities “if or when the club receives further information”.
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