Barry Bennell to appeal against 31-year sentence for child sexual offences
Tuesday 10 April 2018 16:22, UK
Barry Bennell is to appeal against his 31-year sentence, his lawyers have confirmed to Sky Sports News.
He was convicted of 50 child sexual offences, committed between 1979 and 1991.
The former Crewe Alexandra coach is expected to serve 15 years of his sentence in custody and the rest on licence. His lawyers are preparing a case to argue that sentence should be reduced.
The 64-year-old was branded "the devil incarnate" by Judge Clement Goldstone QC, when he sentenced Bennell at Liverpool Crown Court in February.
Judge Clement Goldstone QC said: "Your behaviour towards these boys in grooming and seducing them before subjecting them to, in some cases, the most most serious, degrading and humiliating abuse was sheer evil."
Bennell's lawyer, Eleanor Laws, argued at the time of his sentencing that because of his poor health "his time in custody will be less comfortable and more difficult than it would be for someone without all these concerns".
Laws also said Bennell suffers from anxiety and that he has had cancer in the past, though he is currently cancer free after undergoing operations to remove tumours from his tongue.
Bennell has already served three jail terms, totalling 15 years, for similar offences involving 16 other victims.
