A victim of sex abuse by convicted paedophile Barry Bennell has agreed to an out-of-court settlement for damages with football club Crewe Alexandra.

Solicitor Dino Nocivelli said his client, who was abused by the former youth-team football coach between the age of 11 and 14, agreed to the deal but has not yet received an apology from the club.

The name of the victim, who is now in his 40s, has not been disclosed.

Bennell was jailed for 30 years in 2018 after being convicted of 50 child sexual offences committed between 1979 and 1991, when he also coached at Manchester City.

City recently said it had set up a scheme to compensate victims of child sex abuse experienced at the club by Bennell and another former coach, John Broome, who died in 2010.

Mr Nocivelli said he thought Crewe Alexandra had moved to reach a deal with his client because court proceedings had been issued.

“You can see that they are still kicking and screaming, and refuse to apologise,” he said.

“It’s a very odd approach, to settle an action but not apologise. Surely they could go hand in hand.”

When asked if he expected more settlements to follow for Bennell’s sex abuse victims at Crewe, Mr Nocivelli said: “You would think that, logically, but then there’s lots of thing that should have happened so far which haven’t.

“It should do. Will it? That’s the question, isn’t it?”

In a statement regarding the settlement, Crewe Alexandra told Sky News: “The Club does not consider it appropriate to comment on individual cases that are being dealt with by its insurers, except to reiterate that it sincerely regrets the abuse committed by Barry Bennell and expresses its deepest sympathies to the victims and survivors”.

Many victims broke their silence after former Crewe player Andy Woodward spoke out in November 2016 about the abuse he suffered by Bennell.

An independent inquiry into historical sex abuse in football is due to report its findings in the coming months.

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