Ex-football coach Barry Bennell charged with 21 more sex offences

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Barry Bennell in 1991
Image caption,
Barry Bennell, pictured in 1991, worked at Crewe Alexandra

Former football coach Barry Bennell has been charged with a further 21 offences relating to allegations of historical sex abuse against boys.

The 63-year-old former Crewe Alexandra coach is accused of a total of 41 offences between 1980 and 1991, against eight boys.

He previously denied 20 child sex offences during a hearing in March.

He now also faces 18 counts of indecent assault, two of serious sexual assault and one of attempted sexual assault.

The new charges are against four boys aged between 14 and 16 and are alleged to have taken place between 1983 and 1991.

The previous charges are 14 counts of indecent assault, five counts of serious sexual assault and one count of attempted serious sexual assault.

They involve four complainants who were boys under the age of 16 at the time of the alleged attacks between 1980 and 1987.

One was aged either 11 or 12 at the time.

Bennell, who has also worked as a coach at Manchester City, Stoke and junior teams in north-west England and the Midlands, will appear via video link at South Cheshire Magistrates' Court on 17 May.