Barry Bennell: Paedophile football coach died of natural causes

Paedophile football coach Barry Bennell died in his prison cell having to write things down to communicate and to be fed with a tube, an inquest heard.

The former Crewe Alexandra coach, 69, died on 16 September 2023 at HMP Littlehey after receiving treatment for cancer of the tonsils.

His body was found during hourly checks at the Cambridgeshire prison.

Bennell had been serving a 34-year sentence after being convicted of a series of child sex offences.

He had legally changed his name to Richard Jones, and the inquest in Huntingdon was held under this name.

Cambridgeshire's area coroner Elizabeth Gray recorded a conclusion of death from natural causes, and said Bennell had a history of throat cancer from 2004, which recurred in 2016.

The coroner said Bennell, who also scouted for Manchester City, was fed with a tube and his "means of communication was to write things down" while he was receiving palliative care.

Ms Gray described Bennell having a "significant amount of pain which was managed by the healthcare team at the prison".

In late July his speech started deteriorating, and in September, Bennell discharged himself back to prison from Hinchingbrooke Hospital contrary to medical advice, four days before his death, the inquest heard.

The coroner said he had become confused on 14 September but declined to attend hospital.

Ms Gray said Bennell had previously tried to kill himself and had been found with opiates in his possession.

Bennell abused boys he coached in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

He was jailed for 31-years in 2018 after being convicted of 52 child sexual offences against 12 boys, and was transferred to HMP Littlehey in July 2019.

He was ordered to serve an additional four years after pleading guilty to other offences against two boys in 2020, the fifth time and final time he had been jailed.

He was first sent to prison in Florida in 1994 for raping a British boy on a football tour in America, before going on to face prison sentences in Britain in 1998, 2015, 2018 and 2020.

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