Overview
- Jurors at Chester Crown Court convicted the 67-year-old coach on 57 counts of child sex offences including inciting children under 14 to commit gross indecency and attempted rape
- Police investigation launched in 2018 uncovered eight victims of abuse dating from 1976 to 2006 across Crewe and Northwich
- Woods exploited his role as a youth football coach to win families’ trust before isolating children for sexual and physical abuse
- Evidence at trial described how he locked a victim in a cupboard, burned children with cigarettes and a cooking pan, and encouraged them to abuse each other
- He has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced at Chester Crown Court on August 15