Barry Bennell: Ex-coach 'told me his cancer was payback'

Former football coach Barry Bennell described his cancer as "payback" in a Facebook message sent to an alleged sex abuse victim, a court has heard.

Speaking anonymously, the alleged victim told Liverpool Crown Court he was abused by Mr Bennell after being scouted from a school football team.

Mr Bennell, 64, now known as Richard Jones, denies 48 sex offence charges involving 11 complainants.

The offences are alleged to have taken place between 1979 and 1990.

Mr Bennell denies four counts of serial sexual assault against the man, who was a teenager at the time of the alleged abuse.

Years later a 2009 Facebook message, believed to have been sent by Mr Bennell, said: "Good to see you have a family and enjoying life.

"I got cancer a while back and it's left me in a mess."

The message, sent from an account with the name Richard Barry, went on: "Won't go into details but it's not pretty. Payback I hear you saying, well I understand that."

It asked the alleged victim, who said he did not reply, to "drop me a line saying how your life is going" before signing off: "All the best, Barry".

'I wasn't brave'

Giving evidence from behind a screen, the man recounted an alleged incident on the sofa in Mr Bennell's lounge, saying he "felt the worst I'd ever felt" afterwards.

He told the court he was a "strongish 14-year-old lad" and "felt like I had been raped".

He claimed Mr Bennell told him "nobody would ever believe me" if he spoke out about the alleged abuse, adding: "He said this had happened to players playing professional football now."

The court heard the alleged victim was awarded £2,000 in compensation after Mr Bennell pleaded guilty to offences in 1998.

Asked if he was aggrieved about being offered this amount, he said had had been aggrieved for decades, adding: "£2,000 or £3,000 makes no difference at all."

The court heard that the same victim had made a statement in 1994 in which he had accused Mr Bennell of attempted serious sexual assault but not actual serious sexual assault.

Defending Mr Bennell, Eleanor Laws QC questioned why he did not allege he had been sexually assaulted at that time, to which he said: "I wasn't strong enough and I wasn't brave enough."

The trial continues.