Neil Foden: Former headmaster who 'breached trust' jailed for 'shocking' sex offences against four girls

A former headteacher has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for sex offenses against four girls.

Neil Foden, of Old Colwyn, was found guilty in May after a three-week trial at Mold Crown Court, north Wales.

The 66-year-old was at the time headmaster of Ysgol Friars school in Bangor, Gwynedd.

He was found guilty of 19 charges in total, including 12 counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust.

He was also convicted of one count each of inciting or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to arrange the commission of a sexual offence against a child, sexual communication with a child, possession of indecent photographs of a child for the purpose of display and sexual assault of a child under 13.

He will serve two-thirds of his sentence in prison before being released on parole.

“Terrible secret”

Sentencing him on Monday, Judge Rowlands said Foden was “a man admired by many people in the education system” but had “succeeded in hiding a terrible secret”.

He said Foden took advantage of young girls “repeatedly” in order to satisfy his “depraved sexual needs”.

“You were in a position of trust with the children in your care,” he added.

“It is clear that you have no remorse, you have not shown an ounce of contrition for what you have done and you have no idea of the very serious harm you have caused both the individual victims and to their families,” he added.

Judge Rowlands said Foden was “a strong and intimidating presence” at his school – a man “people were afraid to cross”.

He added that Foden was aware of the vulnerability of his victims. But he added: “And yet you deliberately targeted them. »

Foden became headmaster of Ysgol Friars in 1997 and was later drafted in to “supervise a second school”. He was also a union representative.

He was arrested on September 6 at his workplace.

‘Wrong’

The court heard personal statements from the victims of the four plaintiffs.

Two of them were read in person, while the others were read by the prosecutor on behalf of the victims.

One victim said she “felt lucky” that Foden had been found guilty and that she “will never have to see him again”.

“Foden has affected the way I see and perceive relationships,” said another.

Another said she didn’t think she would ever “fully recover.”

While a fourth said what Foden did was “wrong”.

“This hit me hard and I will never forgive him,” his statement read.

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“Shock and disgust”

The trial found that he abused the four complainants, who cannot be identified, over a period of four years.

The jury returned a guilty verdict and cleared Foden of one count of sexual activity with a child on Wednesday, May 15 at Mold Crown Court.

Gareth Evans, the deputy chief of North Wales Police, said the force shared “our communities’ shock and revulsion at his actions”.

“I cannot overestimate the impact this has had on our communities, and particularly on the youth of the region,” he said.

“I encourage anyone who has experienced sexual violence in the past to come forward. We are here to listen. We are here to support you. We will do our best for you.”

Ceri Ellis-Jones, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “We welcome today’s sentence and hope it will provide victims with some reassurance that Foden has now been brought to justice.”

After passing sentence, Judge Rowlands praised the police “for the thoroughness of their investigation”.

He also said he wished to “express the Court’s admiration for the individual victims and, of course, their families for their courage in coming forward.”