A 'predator' former football coach has been jailed over a string of sex crimes against children across three decades. William Woods, now 67, began abusing his young victims from the 1970s.

Now Woods, of Lawton Street in Congleton, Cheshire, has been jailed for 31 years at Chester Crown Court today (August 15, 2025). He had denied a string of offences but was convicted following a trial of 57 offences, including inciting children under the age of 14 to commit an act of gross indecency, inciting boys aged 13 to 15 to engage in sexual activity and attempted rape.

The court heard that for three decades from the mid 1970s Woods subjected eight children from the Northwich and Crewe to what Cheshire Police described as a 'torrent of sexual and physical abuse'.

"As a football coach in the local

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