It was a nightmare going to bed - Patrice Evra reveals how being sexually abused as a child by his teacher still haunts him

Manchester United icon, Patrice Evra has recounted the sexual abuse he suffered as a child and how it continues to affect him .

The 41-year-old has already opened up about his horrific sexual abuse experience in his autobiography but has now come out to speak again as he hopes to help any child in the same situation.

The former France defender says he kept his experiences a secret for over a decade, saying it left him feeling shame, but realised how important it is to speak out.

Evra told the BBC’s Today Programme: ‘When I was 13 I was in a school too far from home, so I have to take a train, a three-hour trip. So my teacher proposed I sleep in his house, he was living inside the school.

‘At the beginning it was like a dream, he was cooking for me, letting me play video games. But every time when I was going to bed it was a nightmare, that’s when he was trying to sexually abuse me. Every night it was fighting, and then one night he succeeded. I told my mum: I don’t want to sleep any more in that teacher’s house. She asked me why and I didn’t say why.'

‘I lived with that until I was 24 years old, when I was playing for Monaco, and the police called me and said: This man has had a lot of complaints about other kids being sexually abused, did he do anything to yourself? And I said no. I lied because first of all you feel shame about yourself, you feel guilty, and also you’re scared about what people will think – I was already a famous person. I regret, because it’s not about me, it’s about the kids.

‘That’s why in my autobiography I’ve been open about it, and thanks also to the woman of my life, Margaux, she helped get rid of that toxic masculinity and feel safe.

‘I felt like I could trust her, I opened myself and I talk, and you release something. I decided to put it in my book. My book was already finished and I called the publisher and said: I need to add something really important.”

‘The most devastating moment was when I saw my mum and telling her face to face, after I was 13 years old, at the age of 40: I’ve been sexually abused. Of course she was devastated, and I told her: I’m going to put that in my autobiography. She said: No, that is too personal. and I said: No, mum, it’s not for me, it’s for the children.”