Was everybody in any position of power back in the day a nonce or what?
Sexual abuse of young players | Bennell gets 31 years (expected to serve 15) | Dead
- Thread starter jojojo
- Start date
Crazy...
Thanks for sharing. This is shocking. And very sad.
I was wondering that, & decided to prefer to think of a few high profile cases with a prolific rate of committing offences. I am half reading a book on Savile & it seems like a lifestyle choice sat alongside lifestyles which push at the boundaries of acceptability anyway. (Pop stars & their groupies).
Outside of that you have to start to look at prevailing sexual (and social) attitudes/beliefs at the time in the historical context, & that starts to get very difficult, very quickly. For a start, this is all about same sex offending but that as an issue involves bringing forth 'a witch hunt of homosexuals' according to some, and I feel there would be some truth in that. On the other side, where is all the male-female offending, getting swept under the carpet like at the BBC? Or swept under the carpet everywhere else apart from the BBC, as it is now.
There aren't many people want too much of this historical stuff out in the open.
Terrible post, just trying to say there's elephants in the room all over the place with all this. Football is an obvious 'scapegoat' after all it's all changed since 1992, so there's a nice clean slate for everyone to pretend got established at some point (dates don't add up, obvs - but we can worry about that later on, innit?)
Women's tennis next? Or maybe not, that's a bit much to be pondering isn't it? Let's demonize (rightly) a few really evil examples & prosecute a couple more for groping & then move on to pretending we've put a stop to it & it wasn't 'that' bad anyway, and most of all, we've solved it now. Having said all that, I don't know what to think, really.
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I think that actually is the key to it. A single abuser assaulting half a dozen kids in a year could have hundreds of victims before getting caught. The difficult thing is who knew what was happening and why didn't they stop it. The key to that one is probably just that most people don't want to believe it, and even if we hear a rumour or "get a feeling" we know that it's one of the most horrifying accusations we can make. I think we'll find many clubs "moved staff on" but without flagging any kind of warning to the next club or informing the police of their suspicions.
When I look at these cases now I'm conscious of how many things we "knew" as kids. Like "don't get in Jimmy Saville's Rolls Royce - he's a perv", yet my Granny watching telly thought he was just "a cheeky chappy". Of course, I'm also conscious that kids sometimes lie and that an unfounded accusation can do massive damage. That's one of the reasons why people working with kids need to stick to rules that protect them and the kids.
That's good.
For anyone wondering who Monaghan is I posted this a week or two back.
Wow, I'm glad to read the club have reached-out like that, I hope Monaghan can find some peace now that's all out in the open.
Great stuff by the club.
Bennell - additional charges added
I know it says let's not mention BB in the OP, but I thought this is relevant. BBC:
55 offences and he's denying all accusations. Just throw the key away after locking him up.
55 offences? fecking sickening.
Please don't discuss Bennell whilst case is running
Just a reminder again guys as there's an active case open can we please limit discussion on the people involved.
At the risk of sounding stupid, how is discussing his case, any different to discussing Cosby's?
Different laws on what's treated as fair comment on open legal proceedings in the US versus the UK. Broadly, the BBC and the press, with their lawyers, tred that line on what can be reported and what can't - basically that the existence of the case and anything said in open court can be reported, but gossip, and further accusations that sound like an assumption of guilt can't.
The mods aren't around all the time, nor are we lawyers, so we ask people to play it safe.
Fair enough, thanks.
Bennell found guilty again - more charges may follow
Thought it would be worth bumping this.
Staff at City and Crewe in the 70s were made aware of Bennell's actions but chose to turn a blind eye.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...r-city-barry-bennell-warning?CMP=share_btn_tw
Staff at City and Crewe in the 70s were made aware of Bennell's actions but chose to turn a blind eye.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...r-city-barry-bennell-warning?CMP=share_btn_tw
Thanks for posting the article. It really does make harrowing reading. Too many people in a lot of different organisations turned a blind eye to child abuse in years gone by. Thank goodness peoples eyes have been opened and children are more protected and anyone who is abused can get the help and support they need.
Again, it's that sense that he was an open secret that's striking in that report. We'd already heard one of his victims saying youth players at other clubs "knew" about Bennell. Now, unsurprisingly we're reading that other coaches in the FA youth setup knew.
Of course, there's a massive difference between a feeling that "he's a wrong 'un," and evidence to a court of law, or even an employment tribunal.
Of course, there's a massive difference between a feeling that "he's a wrong 'un," and evidence to a court of law, or even an employment tribunal.
Sure I heard on the radio news earlier that he could have been proscuted 5 years ago but the CPS didn't think it was in the public interest to do so. Whaaaaaat?
I guess it's that he'd already been jailed a couple of times before for similar offences from the era. Perhaps a feeling that he'd already been tried really and no use dragging another group of witnesses through a long difficult trial. Plus, I know he's had cancer, so maybe that was a factor in not attempting to go to trial at that time.
It's that issue of what the rest of football knew, particularly his employers, that's so hard to contemplate.
Daniel Taylor (the Guardian reporter) has done a brilliant job of bringing this into the public domain. Bennell effectively groomed parents as well as the young players and some of his methods for controlling whole groups of kids are startling (yet at the same time would have been laughed off as toughening them up, or a bit of banter if challenged)
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/feb/15/barry-bennell-abuse-manchester-city-crewe
31 years. cnut.
Would Crewe be able to afford the damage costs? Surely it would bankrupt them.
Both clubs are going to be sued. It could be as you say the end for Crewe. Both clubs sat back and let this happen just to get young footballers. They deserve all they get and I hope he suffers in prison.
I'm not really suggesting anything worse but at 63 31 years isn't punishment enough considering he's now lived his life and prison will become his care home down the line.
He's done a lot of damage ruining lives
He's done a lot of damage ruining lives
He should have been in prison years ago, but people turning a blind eye has left him to do more and more damage and actually think he had permission to go what he was doing.
https://www.theguardian.com/footbal...ded-sheer-evil-as-he-is-sentenced-to-31-years
From the Guardian article above:
From the Guardian article above:
Does that mean he can walk out in 15 years?
You would think the uproar would prevent it. This man is a real danger, it wasn't a lapse in moralty he is evil. I hope he dies in prison one way or another.
Pretty much yes, maybe even earlier for good behaviour. This country's justice system is a disgrace to be honest.
That's an absolute disgrace! Considering the number of lives he has destroyed, it's a joke of a punishment. That too after he has lived most of his life without facing consequences for his actions. Just seems unfair on all levels, even with the guilty verdict and the sentencing. At least his victims can hopefully have more success in moving on with their lives
When this unfolds fully it won't be just a handfull of clubs.
As much as it shouldn’t have happened it would be unfair for the club and it’s fans to suffer. It should be the individuals responsible for it that foot the bill.
Think other clubs have already been linked, not just with him, but others who have been shown to be child abusers.
Totally agree, bring those who knew but turned a blind eye to justice. This is just going to be the tip of the iceberg and won't be the only sport implicated
Not earlier than that no. Serving half the sentence is now the presumption of good behaviour. It used to be 2/3 rds of sentence but that got reduced.
Wonder how many other stories there are like this waiting to come out, not just in sport but across society. Someone always suspects, but rationalizes it away as an isolated incident or less insidious than it looks. Fear of making a false accusation, the type that sticks even if found innocent? Unwillingness to believe?
My family moved a lot when I was at school age and there always seemed to be a PE teacher with a dodgy reputation at any school I attended. At the time I would have just it put it down to banter, but who knows.
My family moved a lot when I was at school age and there always seemed to be a PE teacher with a dodgy reputation at any school I attended. At the time I would have just it put it down to banter, but who knows.