Coach who bathed naked with youth team is jailed

A former Southend United football coach who asked a youth player to train naked and made others bathe with him in the 1970s has been jailed.

Derek Hinchliffe promised his four victims they would get apprenticeships with the club if they followed his demands.

Judge Shane Collery KC told Basildon Crown Court the boys were "good footballers" who were "desperate" to become professionals.

The 82-year-old was given a prison term of seven years and seven months after being found guilty of 11 counts of sexual and indecent assaults.

The coach's offences took place in Essex between 1973 and 1977, when he was in his 30s.

Judge Collery said Hinchliffe would perform sex acts on himself while bathing with the boys, before taking them "one by one" to be massaged in a private room.

He said other offences took place "when it was dark" in the players' tunnel at Roots Hall, saying they were "done so others couldn't see it and it was done multiple times".

"He was domineering, a man to be feared, which made it less likely to be challenged," the judge continued.

"He created an environment where the children dare not displease him."

Concerns were first raised in 1976 by Southend United's then-manager Dave Smith, who caught Hinchliffe naked in the bath with youth players.

The defendant left the club in March the following year, the court heard.

Emma Nash, prosecuting, said the four victims - who were teenagers at the time - followed his demands because they were "desperate to become professional footballers".

"He could make or break their future careers," she added.

Police dropped their initial investigation into Hinchliffe, but reopened it in 2017 when a report was made about him to the Football Association.

During a 14-day trial, the judge said victims described Hinchliffe as a "domineering and authoritative and shouty and sweary" coach.

Hinchliffe told jurors the allegations against him were "sour grapes" because the players failed to become professionals, the judge said.

The coach admitted he ran the dressing room firmly, stating the boys "knew better than to step out of line".

In a statement read to the court, one of the victims said it was a "classic imbalance of power".

Another added: "Derek affected my potential football career; I believe I was good enough to be a professional for Southend United."

The court heard Hinchliffe continued to abuse young footballers after he moved to Yorkshire in the 1980s, and he was jailed for 16 months in 1984.

Paul Addison, mitigating, said Hinchliffe had continued to maintain his innocence post-conviction.

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