Barry Bennell: Youth football sex abuser in hospital after 'fear for welfare' incident
Barry Bennell, the former youth team coach and convicted paedophile at the centre of football's child abuse scandal, is recovering in hospital after being found unconscious in Stevenage on Friday night.
The 62-year-old, who has been cited by several former professional players as their abuser, was found at an address in Knebworth Park shortly before 11pm on Friday and taken to hospital for treatment.
A spokesperson for the East of England Ambulance Service confirmed one of its crews attended the park after a report of an "unconscious man".
Bennell was a respected scout and youth coach throughout the 1980s and 1990s and worked with Crewe Alexandra, Manchester City, Stoke City along with junior football clubs across the midlands and north-west.
He moved to the States in 1992, but was convicted of raping a British boy at a football camp in Florida in 1994.
After being deported back to the UK he pleaded guilty to 23 specimen charges dating from 1978 to 1992, and was jailed for nine years at Chester Crown Court.
He was later charged with another 22 offences in 1998 and again for a sexual offence committed against a 21-year-old man in 1980.
Bennell faces fresh allegations after former players spoke out last week over sex abuse claims relating to him and other coaches.