"Crewe Alexandra have been told they owe the victims of serial paedophile Barry Bennell ""nothing less than a thorough investigation"" into the failings that allowed the club's former coach to sexually abuse dozens of young boys. Laura Smith, the Labour MP for Crewe and Nantwich, has criticised the League Two club's decision to renege on its promise of an internal review into one of the worst scandals in the history of English football. Smith, the daughter of Hamilton Smith, the former Crewe managing director who claims his warnings about Bennell in the late 1980s were ignored by the club, has urged Crewe's directors to reconsider its decision. Crewe said in a statement last Friday that there was no need to ""duplicate the thorough inquiries"" of Cheshire Police, whom they said had found no evidence that anyone at Crewe knew about Bennell's offending. But Smith, a former teacher, believes any criminal investigation is ""limited in its scope"" and was ""not a substitute for a wider independent investigation"" that could examine why Bennell's crimes were able to go unreported for so long and potentially provide answers she feels the victims deserve. Bennell was described in court as a ""child molester on an industrial scale"" and ""the devil incarnate"" when sentenced last month to 30 years in prison after being found guilty of 43 charges of child sexual abuse throughout the 1980s. Another 86 people have since come forward to make complaints of abuse against him. Bennell had previously been convicted in 1995, 1998 and 2015 of sexually abusing young boys. ""The victims of this horrific abuse deserve nothing less than a thorough investigation into every aspect of the awful events that occurred during this time,"" Smith said. ""That investigation should be transparent and leave no stone unturned. ""My understanding is that any criminal investigation will be limited in its scope by its very nature and is therefore not a substitute for a wider independent investigation. ""It is regrettable that the club has now decided to renege on the Board's original promise to commission an independent investigation and I would urge the club to reconsider its decision."" Bennell has been sentenced to 31 years for his multiple convictions Credit: BBC Smith's calls come only 24 hours after her father, Hamilton, called on the club to be ""honest about the past"" after expressing his shock and deep disappointment at Crewe's attempts to discredit him. Crewe had claimed in their statement last Friday that nobody at the club had any recollection of their former managing director airing his concerns about Bennell's behaviour. But Hamilton Smith, standing by his accusations, responded by questioning how people could believe ""that cultures and attitudes have changed"" at Crewe ""or that the future is one that puts safeguarding first"" if the club was ""not prepared to be honest about the past"". He said that, during his time as manager director between May 1987 and February 1990, he was ""made aware of concerns about Barry Bennell's relationship with the boys at the club"" and raised them at a meeting he called at the house of then chairman, Norman Rowlinson, which he said was attended by several directors, including current chairman John Bowler. ""I am shocked to hear that other individuals have denied any recollection of these events and it is a shame that police have been unable to find any other evidence of this meeting, which took place almost 30 years ago,"" he told the BBC on Wednesday. ""I think it is important that those who held positions of authority have a duty to be honest about what happened. It is the least we can do now for those victims who have suffered the most horrific abuse whilst at the club. I have given my honest account."""
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