Some sombre reading (1 Viewer)

oucho

Well-Known Member
Apart from the man himself who, in fairness to the authorities, has bren prosecuted many times, I'd like to find out the names of the individuals who turned a blind eye to the rumours they were hearing without asking questions. It should never have been allowed to go on for so long.
 

lifeskyblue

Well-Known Member
To think at one time I admired Crewe for their youth development programme and their loyalty to the manager etc etc. How wrong can you be!
It is astounding that like the beeb re saville all knew about it and by doing nothing therefore implicitly condoned systemic abuse. Yes saville and benell are monsters but the institutions and society at large are as responsible for allowing the behaviour to develop, to flourish and to be condoned.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

Esoterica

Well-Known Member
That Crewe are still denying any awareness or suspicion about it is a fucking disgrace. If other teams knew it was going on, there's not a chance Dario Gradi didn't. Should be put out of business if they won't come clean.
 
Last edited:

Terry_dactyl

Well-Known Member
That Crewe are still denying any awareness or suspicion about it is a fucking disgrace. If other teams knew it was going on, there's not a chance Dario Gradi didn't. Should be put out of business if they won't come clean.

It seems that there’s quite a bit of evidence to suggest that they had been informed about concerns.
I guess fans could boycott games? I dunno.
 

oucho

Well-Known Member
I went to school in south Cheshire and Crewe was the local team in the county. When we were in Year 11 we did our work experience; one of the lads from my class went to Crewe Alex, probably in a backroom helper sort of role (he's a sales manager for a recruitment firm now so doubtless the work experience was highly relevant for his future career!)....when we all came back after the 2 weeks, he said that Dario had told a bunch of young lads to "work harder, player better or I'm jumping in the bath with you"....OK he was from an era where players having team baths was the norm, but a bit of a strange thing to say to a bunch of teenage boys in the late 1990s. My mate implied that Dario was some kind of dodgy perv or gay himself but I would stress that there was no evidence for that and I assumed it was just supposition and exaggeration of things that were innocently said. Looking back, perhaps my mate was right. Nothing happened to him personally but he did seem to have come away with the strong impression that something wasn't right.

On a related note I was taken on a primary school trip in the early 90s around Crewe's ground, met Dario and the players and staff - nothing untoward happened at all but now it feels odd that Crewe were letting young children into an environment where they strongly suspected, to say that least, that abuse was going on.
 

oucho

Well-Known Member
Looks like Dario and CAFC going to have questions to answer: Dario Gradi: Ex-employee claims Crewe asked him to wipe pornography from then-manager's computer

"A former Crewe Alexandra employee claims that in 2001 he was asked by a senior official at the club to help wipe pornography off the home computer of then-manager Dario Gradi, the BBC has learned.

According to a statement given to the NSPCC in 2011, the man - who does not want to be identified - was told that Gradi had been hosting a group of young Irish Under-13 players at his house and they had been viewing the material on his computer.

He says he was "amazed" that Gradi was allowed to host boys "in this manner", especially after Crewe's former youth coach Barry Bennell had been convicted of child sex crimes in 1994 - and again in 1998.

The man told the NSPCC "it all seemed odd" and he raised his concerns with the club's chairman John Bowler, but he dismissed the behaviour as "quirky and nothing more".

In a statement, Cheshire Police told the BBC: "In December 2012 Cheshire Police received reports regarding concerns about material on a computer. Following enquiries, it was established that no criminal activity had taken place." "


Not sure how the last sentence makes sense - they would have "found no evidence" of criminal activity, but that's because the man is question had destroyed the evidence....
 

NorthernWisdom

Well-Known Member
In a statement, Cheshire Police told the BBC: "In December 2012 Cheshire Police received reports regarding concerns about material on a computer. Following enquiries, it was established that no criminal activity had taken place." "

Not sure how the last sentence makes sense - they would have "found no evidence" of criminal activity, but that's because the man is question had destroyed the evidence....
You can't get rid of the evidence just by deleting it, if there was evidence of criminal activity on that PC.
 

Captain Dart

Well-Known Member
Looks like Dario and CAFC going to have questions to answer: Dario Gradi: Ex-employee claims Crewe asked him to wipe pornography from then-manager's computer

"A former Crewe Alexandra employee claims that in 2001 he was asked by a senior official at the club to help wipe pornography off the home computer of then-manager Dario Gradi, the BBC has learned.

According to a statement given to the NSPCC in 2011, the man - who does not want to be identified - was told that Gradi had been hosting a group of young Irish Under-13 players at his house and they had been viewing the material on his computer.

He says he was "amazed" that Gradi was allowed to host boys "in this manner", especially after Crewe's former youth coach Barry Bennell had been convicted of child sex crimes in 1994 - and again in 1998.

The man told the NSPCC "it all seemed odd" and he raised his concerns with the club's chairman John Bowler, but he dismissed the behaviour as "quirky and nothing more".

In a statement, Cheshire Police told the BBC: "In December 2012 Cheshire Police received reports regarding concerns about material on a computer. Following enquiries, it was established that no criminal activity had taken place." "


Not sure how the last sentence makes sense - they would have "found no evidence" of criminal activity, but that's because the man is question had destroyed the evidence....

Oh gosh, all coming out now.

You can't get rid of the evidence just by deleting it, if there was evidence of criminal activity on that PC.

Very naive, you can't clean a disc 100%.
 
Last edited:

oucho

Well-Known Member
You can't get rid of the evidence just by deleting it, if there was evidence of criminal activity on that PC.
It may be that he was more than simply deleting data files; you don't need to ask someone for help to do that. If you want to really clean up a computer you do ask someone who knows computers to do it thoroughly. It's a serious allegation and there are questions to answer.
 

NorthernWisdom

Well-Known Member
The quote is "wipe the pornography off the computer" which isn't the same as deleting files.
You're making some massive assumptions, and interpretation to fit a skewed narrative.

In return, let me make some assumptions.

Having done something illegal you ask a senior official to help, who asks someone else... who then does it so efficiently the police can't find anything... despite the fact said person also reports their super-efficient destruction to the police!

It's very dangerous to insinuate that there was criminal activity. The narrative as it fits can all tally. It would indeed be concerning if a bunch of U13s were watching porn on a cmputer, it would indeed be worth reporting, it could indeed be the case that no criminal activity took place.
 
Last edited:

oucho

Well-Known Member
You're making some massive assumptions, and interpretation to fit a skewed narrative.

In return, let me make some assumptions.

Having done something illegal you ask your director to help, who asks someone else... who then does it so efficiently the police can't find anything... despite the fact said person also reports their super-efficient destruction to the police!

I'm not necessarily suggesting that Dario is guilty or that the allegation is true, but it's clear that, as I said, there are questions to answer. That equally applies to your statement. If the police find no evidence then there's nothing more to say, but it seems that "evidence" will include this "computer wiping" allegation and any more similar stories, or worse, that now come out of the woodwork, so you may find the police re-visiting this.

I am very surprised they said "we established no crime took place"; a very odd statement. That's like me saying "NorthernWisdom is not drinking coffee"....no, I have no evidence you are drinking coffee and cannot prove you are, but that's not the same thing. Very odd form of words for the police to use.

Dario is a legend in the area I grew up and I really hope all these suggestions are ill-founded and do not amount to anything, but something seems wrong with the whole picture.
 

NorthernWisdom

Well-Known Member
If the police find no evidence then there's nothing more to say
Well they made enquiries andit was established that no criminal activity had taken place.
I am very surprised they said "we established no crime took place"; a very odd statement. That's like me saying "NorthernWisdom is not drinking coffee"....
What's off about saying that they established no criminal activity took place? What are they supposed to say if that's what they established?!?
 

oucho

Well-Known Member
You're making some massive assumptions, and interpretation to fit a skewed narrative.

In return, let me make some assumptions.

Having done something illegal you ask your director to help, who asks someone else... who then does it so efficiently the police can't find anything... despite the fact said person also reports their super-efficient destruction to the police!

I'm not necessarily suggesting that Dario is guilty or that the allegation is true, but it's clear that, as I said, there are questions to answer. That equally applies to your statement. If the police find no evidence then there's nothing more to say, but it seems that "evidence" will include this "computer wiping" allegation and any more similar stories, or worse, that now come out of the woodwork, so you may find the police re-visiting this.

I am very surprised they said "we established no crime took place"; a very odd statement. That's like me saying "NorthernWisdom is not drinking coffee"....no, I have no evidence you are drinking coffee and cannot prove you are, but that's not the same thing. Very odd form of words for the police to use.

Dario is a legend in the area I grew up and I really hope all these suggestions are ill-founded and do not amount to anything, but something seems wrong with the whole picture.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top