Club statement regarding Barry Bennell's conviction

[carlosthejackal]

I would say that ALL football clubs should now be setting up internal enquiries, no way is this an isolated incident .

 

[geoff clipp]

Errr, maybe because he'd been convicted in the States and there were no complaints at that time to research in the UK, but don't let facts get in the way.

Errr, why should the fact his conviction took place in the US eliminate the need for City to look into this? The victim was British and reported the incident here. Does it not count if it happens in another country? The UK police were looking at it in the nineties, the original Dispatches programme was broadcast in Jan 1997, Ian Ackley gave an interview to The Times in 1996 where he disclosed he'd been repeatedly raped by Bennell. But yeah, don't let facts get in the way.

 

[The perfect fumble]

That solicitor is representing some of the abused players and he’s trying to maximise any potential payout by casting aspersions on City’s investigation and current motives. It seems clear from outside that the club is doing everything it can to get to the bottom of what went on but it’s not in that solicitor’s interest to admit that.

Exactly, there are people swirling around the Bennell case who are not looking for the truth, they're looking for the money.

 

[west didsblue]

I would say that ALL football clubs should now be setting up internal enquiries, no way is this an isolated incident .

A purely internal inquiry is not sufficient. It needs to include external investigators to avoid any suspicion of a cover up, which is why our club are using a QC with a reputation to uphold.

 

[East Level 2]

Is it possible much of the documented evidence will have been lost? Not deliberately destroyed to hamper the investigation but simply because it was no longer relevant.
Bennell's links to the club were severed many years ago and it's possible many links to local junior teams were also severed once the club could run teams for players under 14.
A lot of paperwork could have been deemed surplus to requirements when we moved to The Etihad and the CFA.
Even if there was a requirement to keep documents for a certain period of time, that time is likely to have elapsed prior to Bennell's US conviction being made public.
And if Bennell's association with the club was as loose as some suggest it may never have been documented at all, though I'd expect any financial transactions to be recorded.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

And if Bennell's association with the club was as loose as some suggest it may never have been documented at all, though I'd expect any financial transactions to be recorded.

With Swales at the helm? Really?

 

[Bob Smiles]

There was a holding company formed in 1994 but the legal entity of the football club company itself was established in 1894. Company number 40946.

thanks for the info

 

[lancs blue]

Even if there was a requirement to keep documents for a certain period of time, that time is likely to have elapsed prior to Bennell's US conviction being made public.

6 years is the minimum requirement.

 

[aguero93:20]

6 years is the minimum requirement.

That's a tax/financial returns requirement only as far as I know. I would have thought with an unlimited statute of limitations on sexual crimes that (these days at least) documentation relating to children and safeguarding would have to be held until all parties concerned were deceased. It's quite possible that wasn't the case in the 70s/80s/90s though.

 

[aguero93:20]

Is it possible much of the documented evidence will have been lost? Not deliberately destroyed to hamper the investigation but simply because it was no longer relevant.
Bennell's links to the club were severed many years ago and it's possible many links to local junior teams were also severed once the club could run teams for players under 14.
A lot of paperwork could have been deemed surplus to requirements when we moved to The Etihad and the CFA.
Even if there was a requirement to keep documents for a certain period of time, that time is likely to have elapsed prior to Bennell's US conviction being made public.
And if Bennell's association with the club was as loose as some suggest it may never have been documented at all, though I'd expect any financial transactions to be recorded.

Martin Samuels has said as much in his article, a lot of the paperwork seems to have been lost or destroyed in the moves both of training grounds and of stadia.