The paedophile head teacher hiding in plain sight: How school chief who used lace handcuffs in sickening abuse of four girls was allowed to get away with it without investigation – and was even handed another top job after concerns were raised

A paedophile headteacher jailed for 17 years for abusing four girls was ‘hiding in plain sight’, parents say – as officials were condemned for letting him continue to teach and get another top job, despite bullying and safeguarding complaints. 

Neil Foden, who used lace handcuffs in his sickening abuse of vulnerable young victims, was jailed yesterday after being found guilty of 19 sexual abuse offences.

Foden, 66, had been a prominent figure in Welsh education and the respected head of one of the country’s most successful schools, Ysgol Friars in Bangor.

Yet he faced employment tribunal allegations of ‘petty’ and ‘vindictive’ behaviour – and it emerged during Foden’s trial that a teacher raised concerns with Gwynedd Council’s then-director of education Garem Jackson about his behaviour with one teenage girl four years before his arrest.

It was only when a victim, known in court as Child A, came forward with revelations about their ‘romantic relationship’ and his text messages to her, that Foden was detained by police at the school in September 2023.

He had previously been given a second role as a short-term so-called ‘super-head’ of another school, Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle, despite earlier allegations of bullying made against him by Ysgol Friars staff.

Gwynedd Council in North Wales says it will co-operate with an independent North Wales Safeguarding Board review which has been set up and implement its recommendations.

The local authority, which has been criticised for not acting sooner on concerns about Foden, also suggested further investigations – including a possible public inquiry – could follow. 

One parent of a pupil at Ysgol Friars, who previously considered Foden a friend and asked him to help his daughter improve her performance at school with extra supervision, has spoken of his disgust.

He told the BBC: ‘He was a trusted headteacher, but it’s been a cover, it’s been a vehicle for him to hide in plain sight – absolutely unsuspected, unbeknown, never even thought about to all the people who were close to him.

‘I’ve spent far too much time thinking about it, in fear of how far it could have gone had Child A not come forward – how many more people would be damaged.’

Jurors at Foden’s Mold Crown Court trial were told a concern had been raised in 2019 with the local authority’s former Director of Education Garem Jackson about Foden meeting teenagers alone, but no records of the meeting were kept.

The council did not investigate the matter when raised in 2019.

Mr Jackson resigned from his post last September for ‘personal reasons’.

The local authority has since announced an independent review will take place to establish ‘what lessons can be learnt’.

Mr Jackson told the court a safeguarding official had told him no complaints had been made about Foden so there could be no investigation.

He said he spoke to the headteacher, urging him to keep a distance from pupils, but did not keep a written record of the conversation.

In a statement, Mr Jackson has now said: ‘In rare concerns where concerns were raised directly with me, I reported them to the appropriate officer whose advice I would follow, as I did in this case.

‘My thoughts are with Foden’s victims and all those who have been affected by his actions.’

An independent child practice is now being held looking at lessons to be learned.

The pupil’s father who featured on a BBC programme last night about the case, whose daughter was not a victim, said: ‘As a parent it’s absolutely shocking and unforgivable that Gwynedd council didn’t treat that with more formality at the time.

‘Garem Jackson said he’d spoken to Gwynedd’s safeguarding officer – because there were no complaints, nothing formal other than the concerns of the senior management team, the case was dropped with literally nothing happening bar a phone call, presumably with Neil informally of which there are no records and no paper trail.

‘That could have stopped it, that’s the key factor – nothing changed in his behaviour. He carried on seeing the girl. To me, it’s the hiding in plain sight thing, isn’t it – it’s effectively a fox in a chicken hut.’

Dr Mair Edwards, who was chair of governors at Ysgol Friars until 2016, broke down in tears when interviewed for last night’s BBC special, ‘The Abuse Headteacher’.

She said of Foden’s arrest: ‘When I heard the news, I was shocked. And then over the months I have been concerned, did we miss something? Did I, as the governor with responsibility, miss something? And that is really upsetting.

‘There has to be an inquiry into how these incidents occurred. With any of these cases there has to be a period of reflection and learning.’

Gwynedd Council said: ‘We are appalled by the nature of the crimes committed and commend and admire the remarkable courage and resilience the victims and their families have displayed throughout the process.’

Beca Brown, the local authority’s cabinet member for education, said: ‘What happened to the girls Neil Foden abused is nothing short of a tragedy.

‘Details of the lessons to be learnt will become apparent when the North Wales Safeguarding Board review reports, and I commit to implementing whatever recommendations they make.

‘There is nothing more important than the safety of children and young people and caring for them during their formative years is one of the greatest responsibilities there is.

‘The welfare of children and young people is at the top of my priorities, and those of the council, and in these challenging times where young people are under stress and pressure from many directions, it is important that we all continue to work hard to try and create the best possible circumstances for our youth on their journey through our schools.

‘Whatever the outcome of the review that is underway, at the centre of all this are young girls who have suffered a horrific experience – and what happened to them should never happen again.

‘I am eager to collaborate with the review and would welcome any early recommendations or ideas of lessons to be learned going forward from here.’

She suggested that ‘other investigations may also be needed’, including a public inquiry, adding: ‘I’d welcome such an inquiry – indeed, I would wish to see one if necessary to reassure parents in Gwynedd that no stone will be left unturned. ⁠ ⁠ ⁠

‘I wish to express unequivocally that I stand with the victims, I thank them for their extraordinary resilience, and I extend my deepest condolences to them, their families and friends.’

MailOnline has approached the council for further comment on previous concerns raised about Foden’s behaviour.

Foden, of Old Colwyn, entered teaching in 1979 when he was in his 20s. He made rapid progress and joined Ysgol Friars in Bangor as deputy head in 1989. 

In 1996 he became headteacher at Friars, one of the most high profile schools in north west Wales, with around 1,200 pupils.

He also became an executive member for Wales in the National Union of Teachers, which later merged with another union to become the National Education Union.

But he lost his union role in 2020 when found guilty of unacceptable professional conduct in 2020.

The Education Workforce Council panel heard allegations against Foden from three members of staff between April 2014 and October 2016.

At the time, the BBC reported Foden’s fitness to practise hearing was told he ‘singled out’ a teacher by blaming him for the cancellation of a school trip in 2014.

He ‘should have appreciated the need for an independent and balanced investigation’ before starting disciplinary proceedings, it was found, though four other allegations were not proved. 

Lesley Wilson, whose science teacher husband Simon Wilson raised bullying concerns back in 2014, told the BBC there was a ‘climate of fear’ the school.

She described how her husband was punished after raising with school managers his worries that exam results were being misreported.

She said: ‘They took the A-level off him, they took the separate sciences off him – they disciplined him twice, they suspended him, made up bogus allegations against him and he was just constantly on edge.

‘There was certainly a feeling of fear within the school – there was very much an “in” camp and an “out” camp.

‘If you didn’t adhere to everything Foden wanted you to do, then people daren’t stand up and be counted.’

Mr Wilson was awarded £8,000 in compensation after a 2017 employment tribunal found his suspension was unjustified and he now works at another school.

His wife told the BBC how a vote of confidence in Foden by the school’s governing board ‘tainted the whole governing body’, adding: ‘Nobody could have then sat on a disciplinary panel for Foden, so it was very clever of him to twist it in that way.’ 

Dr Edwards, whose term as chair of governors had ended in 2016, said Foden could be ‘incredibly charismatic’ and how ‘if you’re onside, he’s very friendly’ – but would bridle at any criticism of the school’. 

She said: ‘He would take that very personally indeed.

‘There’d be a change in his posture – he’d straighten himself out, he’d look at you, there’d be a hardening of his star which would make you think, “Okay, I’ll leave that for now, I’ll come back to it at another time”.

‘But the problem with that is that some things never ever resolved. In meetings I often found myself not being given the full story, in my opinion, as to some of the issues which were arising.’

Foden hit the headlines in 2021 when it emerged the cook at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle had been ‘instructed not to give food to any child’ in a letter written by him if school dinner debts were not cleared, even if they owed only a penny.

Manchester United footballer and school meals campaigner Marcus Rashford criticised Foden’s strict policy at the time and said ‘for many children, lunch at school is the only meal they’ll get’.

After Foden’s sentencing yesterday, police released video footage of the moment he was arrested by officers at the school last September as well as police interviews in which he would only say: ‘No comment.’

During his trial, the court was shown a video of the defendant holding the hand of one of the girls, child A, as she sat in the back of his car, while he was in the driver’s seat.

Foden was arrested after child A showed an adult a photo of them together and screenshots of messages about oral sex.

The court heard he would pick her up in his car and drive them to secluded areas and sexually abuse her.

Foden warned the girl not to tell anyone what they did, telling her she must ‘take it to the grave’.

Police found she had Googled terms such as ‘I think I’m being sexually groomed, what do I do?’ and ‘how to tell your parents you were groomed’.

Another complainant, child E, told police she referred to Foden as Mr P, for perfect, while he called her ‘his little sex toy’.

She also described meeting the defendant in his BMW car, which had personalised number plates, and driving to remote lay-bys and country lanes ‘for him to have a play with me’.

After Foden was arrested, police later found a pair of purple and black lace handcuffs in the boot of his car which had DNA present matching Foden and the youngster.

Last month he was convicted of 12 counts of sexual activity with a child, two counts of sexual activity with a child in a position of trust, and one count each of causing or inciting child sexual activity, attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence, sexual communication with a child, possession of indecent photographs of a child and sexual assault of a child.

He was cleared of one count of sexual activity with a child, where he was alleged to have touched the bottom of child D.

At Foden’s sentencing at Mold Crown Court yesterday, Judge Rhys Rowlands said the offender was ‘determined’ to satisfy his perverted fetish desires.

He described Foden as a ‘domineering’ and ‘bombastic’ character who was looked up to by many, but was a ‘man who managed to hide a dreadful secret, an appalling flaw in your character, that being your sexual obsession with young teenage girls’. 

The judge said: ‘Your behaviour was born out of your arrogant sense of your self-worth, such that you believed no one would stand up to you.’

‘It is clear that you have no remorse. You have not shown an ounce of contrition for what you did and you have no insight into the undoubted very serious harm you have caused both to individual victims and to their families.’