Convicted child sex offender and former football coach.

Convicted child sex offender and former football coach Barry Bennell has been jailed for an additional four years, marking his fifth sentencing for sexual abuse.

Bennell, already serving a 31-year prison sentence for his actions as a coach and talent scout for Crewe Alexandra and Manchester City, has once again faced justice.

Who is Bennell?

Bennell, also known as Richard Jones, held coaching positions with numerous teams across Greater Manchester, Cheshire, Staffordshire, and Derbyshire. He had a long career in football, spanning almost a quarter of a century, including seven-year stints with Manchester City and Crewe. In 2017, he was branded "sheer evil" and "the devil incarnate" after being sentenced to 30 years in prison at Liverpool Crown Court for subjecting young players to hundreds of sexual offenses.

Why was he back in court?

Bennell, 66, pleaded guilty to three counts of buggery and six counts of indecent assault at an earlier hearing. These offenses occurred between 1979 and 1988, targeting victims aged between 11 and 14.

On Thursday, he appeared via videolink from HMP Littlehey in Cambridgeshire, where he is serving his life sentence. Judge Patrick Thompson imposed a sentence to be served consecutively to his current term, resulting in a total of 34 years in custody, with an additional two years on licence.

Judge Thompson stated, "You were a parent's worst nightmare."

What else do I need to know?

Police documents reveal that detectives investigating the Bennell case privately suspected Crewe officials must have been aware of the crimes that led to his label as a child abuser on an "industrial scale." While Bennell faces a potential lifetime behind bars, The Athletic has uncovered that the police spotlight also focused on Crewe due to suspicions that club officials knew about Bennell's predatory behavior towards young boys.

What is Crewe's response?

Crewe was contacted by The Athletic on Tuesday but declined to comment. While Crewe has consistently denied any knowledge of his crimes, police correspondence reveals that at least one senior member of the serious-crime unit investigating Bennell found it hard to believe that a club of Crewe's size could have remained ignorant.