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‘Barry Bennell taken to hospital’ after police attend ‘fear for welfare incident’ at hotel near Stevenage

Convicted paedophile and former Crewe Alexandra FC youth coach Barry Bennell. Archant

Convicted paedophile and former Crewe Alexandra FC youth coach Barry Bennell has been taken to hospital after what police called a ‘fear for welfare incident’ at a hotel near Stevenage.

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The incident shortly before 11pm on Friday night involved Thames Valley Police. A source confirmed to the Comet that the 62-year-old man found unconscious at the Novotel Stevenage was Bennell – who also goes by the name Richard Jones.

The development comes amid a wider investigation into Bennell by five other police forces as former footballers repeatedly name him while claiming they were sexually abused at Crewe in the 1980s and 1990s.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: “Police officers attended an address in Knebworth Park, Stevenage just before 11pm on Friday in connection with a fear for welfare incident.

“A 62-year-old man was located and was taken to hospital in order to receive medical treatment, where he remains.”

Herts officers also attended the incident.

A spokesman for the East of England Ambulance Service confirmed that they were called at 10.50pm on Friday.

He said: “We got a report of an unconscious man at Knebworth Park in Stevenage. We sent an ambulance crew who were on the scene within eight minutes.”

Bennell was taken to Stevenage’s Lister Hospital, where he remains receiving treatment.