Barry Bennell pleads not guilty to sexual assault charges

Former Crewe Alexandra coach, Barry Bennell, denied seven counts of indecent assault between 1981 and 1986 on a boy and one count of attempted buggery when he appeared via videolink at Chester crown court on Monday.

All the offences, including assault with intent to commit buggery, are alleged to have occurred when the boy was between 11 and 15.

One of the charges relates to an alleged incident at Butlin’s holiday camp and others are alleged to have happened in Cheshire.

Bennell was remanded into custody until 20 March for a further hearing, with a view to arranging a trial date.

Judge Roger Dutton reminded the press and members of the public that any identification of the alleged complainant “will be treated very seriously” by the courts.

Bennell had a seven-year association with Manchester City before moving to Crewe in 1985 and worked there for the same amount of time. He has also coached for Stoke City and a number of other junior sides in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Manchester, as well as the US.