"I didn't think anybody would believe me"

How two nights alone with paedophile coach Barry Bennell would impact 12-yearold David Lean’s life forever, leading him to battle for conviction of his abuser.

It’s been more than 40 years since David Lean’s childhood was violated by convicted paedophile Barry Bennell.

And while time has gone some way towards healing the wounds inflicted, it’s done nothing to dull David’s memory of that weekend in 1980, when he was just 12-years-old.

After first crossing paths with the young boy at a coaching camp at Butlins holiday park - where he was working as a football coach - Bennell began an 11-month programme of grooming, laying the groundwork for a terrifying two-night ordeal that would change David’s life forever.

“My earliest memories are of playing football,” says David, who is now 53.

“I used to dream about singing the National Anthem on the pitch at Wembley, so you can imagine my excitement when I met this enthusiastic and energetic coach who took a shine to me. He told my dad about a junior team that he ran, with links to a top professional club. He said I was a future star.”

David says the sessions were fantastic, with Barry heaping praise on him, and giving him gifts. When he returned home, he and Barry kept in touch, each writing a couple of letters a month.

Then, sometime early in 1980, Barry wrote suggesting David come and visit him for a couple of days so he could attend a full-day soccer skills course in Macclesfield.

“My dad knew him pretty well by then too, and agreed to drop me off Thursday teatime, and collect me Saturday morning.

“Barry’s 11 months of handwritten letters, building a relationship with my dad and myself had finally paid off. He had a physically fit, young, and promising footballer, all alone for two nights at his property.

"He had my parents full trust and respect - and he knew it."

David recalls how things seemed strange as soon as he arrived at Barry’s home.

“He was always touching me in some way,” he says.

“Whipping me on the bum with tea towels, tickling and wrestling, and cuddling me as we watched TV.

“Later that night, he bounded into the room and literally jumped into my bed.”

Over the next two evenings, far away from home, and with no way to contact his family, David was subjected to sickening sexual abuse.

He remembers: “When I got back home, I ripped up all his letters; he was no longer my hero. I was lost, alone, and very confused.

“I had no idea what a sex offender or paedophile was, and didn't really understand what had happened to me."

A few weeks later, Barry showed up at David’s house, and his mum told him to take Barry up to his bedroom to show him his trophies and medals. “He stood in the doorway of my room and said: “Don’t worry I won’t tell your mum what you did to me.” I ran back downstairs to my mum.”

Too scared to come forward, and convinced nobody would believe him, David relived the experience over and over in his head, trying to figure out if it had been his fault.

As time went by, he did his best to store it away in the back of his head, though he was plagued by nightmares and flashbacks.

He got married and had kids, and then one day in 1997, while visiting his mum, a familiar face caught David’s eye on TV. It was a programme about a football coach who had been convicted of sexual abuse offences.

Bennell had abused others.

Deciding he could never disclose what happened to him while his mum was alive, David made a secret promise to himself to come forward - but not yet.

In the meantime, his marriage broke down. When his children were 12 and 10, his wife’s new partner moved in.

He says: “It was at this stage I almost lost the plot, knowing my children were sleeping in the same house as a man I didn’t know, and that my son was the same age as me when I was abused.

“Although never officially diagnosed, I believe I had a breakdown"

Several years later, in 2013, David’s mum passed away from cancer. Just five days after the funeral, David walked into Macclesfield police station, and stated that he would like to report a case of non-recent Childhood Sex Abuse. He also revealed the truth to his fiancee Teresa, and to his dad, who was devastated and blamed himself.

When the police interviewed Bennell, he denied everything, and it took two years, including countless appeals by David when CPS dropped the case, to get Bennell into court.

“Ultimately, I had to appeal to the new National Child Sexual Abuse Review Panel and, through this appeal, the prosecution guidance in England changed to allow cases such as mine to be seen as more in favor of the public interest code,” he explains.

"This allowed charges to be brought against Bennell, who has since received multiple convictions for sexual abuse against 22 boys, though David says many more victims have come forward over the years. Bennell will not leave prison until he is in his 80s. And after years of suffering, David is now determined to find peace - for himself, and for other survivors of sexual abuse in childhood.

“I was sexually abused over two evenings, yet this has had a massive impact on my whole life,” he says.

“I can only try and imagine what the effects of long-term sexual abuse are on a child's mental health."

David is halfway through his Level 4 Counselling Diploma, and is an ambassador for Voicing CSA. In 2017 he launched #PurpleSummer to raise awareness of all forms of child abuse, which has since been taken up by groups all over the world.

“This June 18th, we’re holding the 9th #PurpleSummer, ‘wearing, sharing, and shining’ purple,” says David.

“We want to ensure people are talking openly about child abuse, and educating their children. It’s no longer 1980, and we have fantastic information freely available on the internet to educate both adults and children.

“Childhood abuse is happening all around the world, on a huge scale. It is often hidden, as it’s a subject people don’t wish to even think about, let alone discuss it - but we must.

“My life was very difficult for a long time, but I am proud that I somehow managed to make it through.”