Bob Higgins trial: Ex-football coach guilty of sex assault charge

Bob Higgins denied all the charges involving 24 complainants, most of whom were Southampton and Peterborough Utd trainees

A former Southampton football club youth coach has been found guilty of indecently assaulting a young trainee.

Bob Higgins, 65, was found not guilty of another count of the same offence.

The jury at Winchester Crown Court did not reach verdicts on 48 other counts of the same charge and was dismissed.

The prosecution said it would seek a retrial. Higgins denied all the charges involving 24 complainants, most of whom were Southampton and Peterborough trainees.

The allegations related to a period between 1971 and 1996 when Mr Higgins coached at Southampton and later at Peterborough United.

Found guilty

The jury was discharged after deliberating for a total of 25 hours and 25 minutes, at the conclusion of a trial which lasted eight weeks.

Higgins was found guilty by a majority of 10 to two of indecently assaulting one teenage boy in a car in the 1980s.

He was found not guilty of indecently assaulting another teenage boy. Neither youngster can be named.

A retrial on the remaining charges would be likely to be be held next year.

Higgins showed no emotion as the jury returned its verdicts. He was granted bail on condition he surrenders his passport.

The judge rejected a defence application for reporting restrictions to be imposed in advance of a retrial.