Coach who raped and sexually assaulted girls jailed

A women who was raped when she was a child says her abuser "violated boundaries I hadn't yet learned how to name".

Michael Haynes, from Urmston in Greater Manchester, has been jailed for 18 years for raping and assaulting two girls in the 1980s and 1990s.

The 76-year-old was found guilty at Manchester Crown Court after a woman contacted police in 2020 and consequent media coverage led to the second woman filing a report in 2023.

Greater Manchester Police said they "believed there may be further victims" who they encouraged to contact them.

Haynes was working at Trafford School of Gymnastics, when he assaulted the girls, starting with inappropriate touching - including when apparently helping with stretching exercises.

He also asked one of his victims, when she was 12 years old, inappropriate questions about relationships.

Police said he committed a range of offences from sexual touching to rape with "offences occurring in his vehicle".

In a victim impact statement read to the court, one of the women said: "Michael Haynes violated boundaries I hadn't yet learned how to name.

"I didn't understand what had happened – or how I felt about it. I just knew something had shifted in me."

She said "something had been taken by someone I trusted, and I carried confusion and shame for many years".

"I still live with the effects of what happened, but I also live with pride in who I've become. All you have left now is shame."

The other woman said she joined the gym at the age of about 10 as "a young kind-hearted child with the hopes and dreams of being a British gymnast".

"When the abuse started shortly after, I felt lost and scared, and I have carried the weight and worry through life ever since."

She said social media and documentaries had "comforted and inspired" her to report "the abuse I suffered all those years ago".

Det Insp Rick Lees, from Greater Manchester Police, called it a "harrowing investigation".

"Following our investigation, we believe there may be further victims who Haynes taught gymnastics from the same time period of the late 1980s to early 1990s, who may have previously felt unable to come forward.

"We would like to take this opportunity to appeal to anyone who has been a victim of any form of sexual abuse, whether it be recent or non-recent to please get in touch with us, no matter how long ago it was - we will listen to you and we can help."

Haynes, from Barnfield in Urmston, was found guilty of eight counts of rape and 12 counts of indecent assault.

He has also been listed on the sex offenders register for an indefinite period.