Abused pupil calls Foden report findings ‘devastating’

A former pupil who was groomed by paedophile headteacher Neil Foden has described the findings of a Child Practice Review (CPR) report as “shocking, devastating and hard-hitting”.

Jo (not her real name), attended Ysgol Friars in Bangor, Gwynedd, and was groomed by Foden over five years.

She told BBC-produced Newyddion S4C that sharing her experiences with the report’s team and hearing what the review uncovered was “incredibly difficult”.

Jo is the only victim to speak publicly, first appearing in BBC Wales Investigates’ documentary My Headteacher the Paedophile last year.

She said Foden groomed her while she was a pupil at the school, and that senior staff often saw her in his office but never checked on her wellbeing.

She also said teachers saw her getting into his car in the school car park but did not question it.

Jo, who contributed to the Child Practice Review entitled Our Bravery Brought Justice, said that Cyngor Gwynedd’s response to concerns raised was “appalling”.

“To receive concerns from school staff and other agencies and do nothing, it’s unforgivable,” she said.

“By ignoring the warnings, they allowed him to continue. Promoting him gave him even more students to prey on.”

Jo said she had been “failed by the very people who were supposed to protect” her.

She said it was “infuriating and heartbreaking” to learn how many concerns had been raised about Foden, but were never properly investigated.

“There were people who were meant to keep me safe,” she said.

“If they could fail to protect me, who else have they failed?

“So many people could’ve stopped what was happening.

“Hopefully this report will force all of those people to take accountability and acknowledge their failures to protect children,” she added.

“I really do hope this report forces change amongst everyone involved, and that more people across the country can learn from this dreadful experience.”

Cyngor Gwynedd said: “As a council we are already committed to acting on all conclusions and recommendations fully and without delay.”

The CPR report described Foden as a “powerful figure” who “courted the media”.

Jo said his focus on press attention was clear from his hundreds of emails and phone messages to her, some of which have been shared with Newyddion S4C.

One Whatsapp message, sent on 2 July 2018 while Jo was still at school, appeared to reference an ongoing employment tribunal in which Foden had been described as autocratic and unwilling to accept “failings on his part”.

In the text to Jo, he wrote: “Everybody has their breaking point, but nobody’s found mine yet.”

A separate tribunal a few days later on 5 July 2018 awarded an ex-teacher £8,000, finding Foden and senior staff had treated him in a “petty and vindictive manner”.

Jo said that after she left school, Foden paid for some of her university costs.

He would visit her every term and would take her for coffee and to shops. He bought her gifts, a scarf and often chocolate and cakes.

On 21 June 2021, Foden became strategic head at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle in Penygroes.

Messages to Jo two days later show him appearing boastful: “Just excluded my first kid”, adding that one pupil had shouted in class that Foden “had been in trouble for touching kids”.

Within days of starting his new role, he had expelled four pupils.

Later that year, on 11 November 2021, as controversy grew over his decision to ban pupils from school meals if they owed more than 1p, Foden told Jo he had been “thrown under the bus by the council”.

Jo said he always “liked to convince people that he couldn’t be upset or hurt”.

A mother from Bangor has said her family was “targeted” after raising concerns about her son being bullied at Ysgol Friars when he was 12.

Julia Lock, 46, a former Gwynedd supply teacher, said she first raised concerns in February 2011 but further letters and requests for meetings with Foden were ignored.

Frustrated, she contacted her local councillor and MP, who she said were helpful, but her concerns remained unresolved.

Ms Lock said the situation worsened after her brother Andrew – who had worked at the school as an IT support technician for 15 years – got involved.

In July 2011, Mr Lock, 44, who is partially deaf and sighted, joined her in the school reception while she waited unsuccessfully for two hours to speak to Foden.

Days later, Mr Lock was suspended, accused of “acting against a senior member of staff” over his reaction that afternoon.

The family has disputed the claim, saying Foden was targeting and manipulating them.

“It was like he had spies everywhere,” Mr Lock said. “If something caught his ear, he’d start to play games.”

Devastated by his suspension, Mr Lock attempted to end his own life.

“Foden absolutely destroyed my life. He stole my life,” he said.

After a disciplinary hearing, Mr Lock returned to Ysgol Friars in January 2012, only for Foden to increase his workload to an “unmanageable level”, leaving him stressed and depressed.

“I believe Neil Foden is like a puppet master, a master manipulator,” he said.

“I want people to know enough to stop this happening again.”

Ms Lock approached the Gwynedd Education Department, North Wales Police and other organisations, including Estyn, the education inspectorate for Wales.

“I have piles of letters and emails, but nobody listened,” she said.

Newyddion S4C has seen the many letters, which Ms Lock said showed how Foden controlled the narrative and that the authorities appeared to accept his version of events.

Ms Lock said she thought about her family’s ordeal under Foden every day.

“People around him, like Cyngor Gwynedd, never held him to account,” she said.

“It haunts me how many issues, maybe not all sexual, but abuse in many forms – were never looked into.

“We’re talking about safeguarding children, and that cuts deep.”

The family has called for a public inquiry into historic abuse, saying: “It’s the only way to get the truth”.

“I’m not the only one. I’m sure of that,” she added.

A Gwynedd council spokesperson said: “The independent investigators of the Children’s Practice Review have been investigating allegations for over a year and we have already committed to acting on all conclusions and recommendations fully and without delay.”

Dawn Roberts from Bangor said her son, who has additional learning needs, was assaulted by Foden at Ysgol Friars in 2021.

She said her son was held down by Foden, who “basically sat on top of him” for failing to put away a pack of playing cards.

CCTV footage viewed by Ms Roberts showed her son trying to walk away several times, she said.

“He was grabbed by Foden, who put his hands on either shoulder, spun him, and held him down, squatting over him with his hands on [the boy’s] chest,” she said.

Staff filmed the incident, and audio reportedly captured the boy pleading for Foden to let go.

After the incident, Ms Roberts requested her son’s school records, which were first sent to a reviewer for redaction.

The reviewer then contacted North Wales Police and social services over safeguarding concerns, and police then came to the family’s house to ask if they wanted to press charges against Foden.

“They were obviously concerned enough to come to me. I didn’t go to them,” said Ms Roberts.

However, after Foden was questioned, police said there was insufficient evidence to take further action.

North Wales Police has been contacted for a response.

Four years on, Ms Roberts said she has still not received an explanation, but taking further action was too expensive.

“If I had done more, would I have saved those girls? Could I have helped somebody if I had tried harder?” she said.

Ms Roberts said she was then shocked to discover that Cyngor Gwynedd had reviewed Foden’s behaviour in 2019.

“You’d think he’d be on some form of probation, that he’d be watched. Why weren’t they keeping an eye on him?” she asked.

Maths teacher Morfudd Mill worked at Ysgol Friars for nearly 30 years and said she suffered years of “the worst kind of bullying anyone could imagine” by Foden, who suspended her twice.

But she warned the abuse went far beyond her own experience.

“There are other forms of abuse – mental, psychological and physical. He abused boys especially – from the very start of his career,” she said.

“There are four decades of victims and a lot of unanswered questions.”

The CPR report stated that “Foden’s victims of excessive force used in restraint were all male”.

Although Ms Mill said an inquiry would be “costly”, she added “the safety of children must come first… under the authorities who have turned their backs on them in the past”.

“What price can you put on the life of a young person who’s supposed to be safe every day at school?” she asked.