Former Southampton FC coach, Bob Higgins, charged with 65 counts of child sexual abuse

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Football abuseThe former Southampton youth coach Bob Higgins has appeared before magistrates charged with 65 sexual offences against boys as young as 12.  He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and will now appear at Winchester Crown Court on 16 August 2017.

Higgins, 64, was accused of 63 indecent assaults and two attempted indecent assaults between 1970 and 1996. The court was told the alleged offences relate to 23 boys.  He was a coach in Southampton’s junior system in the 1980s.  He also worked as Peteborough United’s youth team from May 1995 – April 1996 and ran his own soccer school.

Gary Walker, Panel Member of the Association of Child Abuse Lawyers, has vast experience of representing survivors of abuse in civil claims. He says, “It is vital for the victims for there to be a full and effective investigation both into the conduct of the abuser as well as the club where he worked I would urge anyone who has been a victim of abuse to report it to the police.”

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