Ex-Coach Drew, 78, Back To Jail 23 Years After Conviction Over Sexual Abuse Of Boys As 1970s Victim Reveals More Horror
Mike Drew, a former senior coach in Britain who was jailed for six years in 2001 after subjecting young boys to sexual abuse has been sent back to prison at 78 after another victim from the 1970s reveals the horrors he too endured.
Drew, who rose to a leading role representing other coaches at a time when he worked with boys across south London, east London and Essex for four decades, was unmasked in 2000 when five boys came forward about abuse he’d subjected them to between 1969 and 1991.
The story, harrowing details of which you can read in this 2002 archived Guardian report penned by my colleague and swim-writing predecessor at The Times, Steven Downes, prompted questions in UK swimming over how a man like Drew could have abused his young charges as he did without any alarm bells going off.
Now, 23 years after being handed a six-year jail sentence, Drew is heading back to jail for similar offences after a sixth victim approached police in 2022 to report abuse he had suffered at Drew’s hands in the 1970s.
Drew, of Wilmington, Dartford, had a good reputation as a coach to talented young swimmers in and around London, Bromley, Crystal Palace, Hornchurch and Laindon his chief haunts.
But unbeknown to his colleagues, the parents of his victims and many others he charmed, Drew had been busy abusing his pupils and causing them a lifetime of angst and pain.
The man who came forward in 2022 was aged between 13 and 15 when he was abused. After he finally found the courage to talk to the police, Drew was arrested once more and later pleaded guilty to six counts of indecent assault.
Prosecutor Madeleine Wolfe told Croydon Crown Court that the victim had, like all the others, been persuaded that the sex acts Drew had him perform were medical requirements and a prerequisite to elite performance in the pool.
Ms Wolfe told the court: “So when Mr Drew said a medical procedure was necessary in training he did not consider refusing or questioning it.”
Drew told the boy that the sex acts would increase his level of Vitamin E and improve his swimming. As is the case with so many vulnerable youngsters who have suffered abuse in sport down the decades, the boy trusted Drew implicitly and believed what he was being told to do would help to make him a champion.
In a victim impact statement the man described Drew as “evil”. The coach had a hugely negative impacted on his entire adult life. He said:
“The biggest regret of this sad criminal offence was that I could not speak about what happened to me. Throughout the 1970s I struggled with the ability to make friends due to the barriers. In my education I found it difficult to concentrate at school due to what was happening to me. I have a sense of guilt for not speaking out sooner. The rational side of me wanted to get it out but the emotional side of me wanted to keep it in.”
Drew’s victim in 2022-24 victim impact statement on abuse dating back to the 1970s
James Manning, Drew’s barrister, told the court: “Mr Drew tells me he feels ashamed and referred to his behaviour as madness.”
He urged Judge Daniel Flahive to give his client a suspended sentence rather than sending him to prison, saying: “He was convicted in 2001 and was given a significant sentence. He spent a long time in custody and the system has worked in that he has not reoffended. He has come out and lived a different life. He no longer poses a threat to children, or for that matter, anybody.”
Judge Flahive was not persuaded, addressing Drew with these words: “It took [the victim] a great deal of courage to come forward in 2022. He was in his teens in the 1970s and he looked up to you as a swimming coach. You were renowned in your field. The boys thought the world of you and looked to you to help their future careers as swimmers. You took advantage of that.”
He concluded: “He was a child and he was vulnerable. All of this drives me to the opinion that there has to be a prison sentence here.”
Drew was sentenced to a further two years and three months in custody.
There is a vast catalogue of abuse in swimming down the decades, the world over. Here are some of the more recent arctiles and features on related subjects in the SOS archive:
IWD: Nancy Hogshead-Makar, Rape Survivor & Fighter For An End To Abuse in Sport
Swimming South Africa Accused Of Lying To Parliament In Briefing On Abuse Cases