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A paedophile high teacher was arrested after a school pupil showed staff her mobile phone, it has been revealed. Neil Foden is serving 17 years in prison for 19 offences against four girls over a four-year period. Following his conviction, a BBC investigation revealed allegations that Foden - who was head of Ysgol Friars in Bangor, Wales - may have, in fact, abused children for more than 40 years with potentially more victims. A report into how the disgraced 67-year-old was able to sexually abuse girls for years has found there were more than 50 "missed opportunities" to intervene. His vile crimes only led to his arrest after one of his victims came forward in 2023. Foden - who was considered to be one of the most senior teaching leaders in the country - was convicted at Mold Crown Court in May 2024 and was described as "depraved", "arrogant" and a "bully" by the judge. A Child Practice Review into his crimes was commissioned by North Wales Safeguarding Board following the imprisonment of the sex offender. As reported by the Mirror , the delayed report detailed the day his crimes finally caught up with him. It stated: "On the 6 September 2023 a pupil at Ysgol Friars, a school in North Wales, showed staff images and messages on her phone which she reported were from the Headteacher, Neil Foden. The phone number was checked and confirmed to be that of the Headteacher. "The content of a number of the messages was explicitly sexual and images showed the pupil in Foden’s car. The pupil is reported in the referral by the member of staff who took the disclosure to have said that she had been in a ‘romantic relationship’ with Foden for a number of months prior to disclosure." The first concerns regarding Foden's relationship with a child were raised by another pupil back 2018. Further concerns were raised by a hostel manager in the same year, the damning report revealed. It also said that, back in 2019, concerns were raised with Foden and he is warned about "boundaries", Wales Online reports. Jan Pickles, chair of the review, described Foden as a "sophisticated and controlling paedophile" who "created a culture which enabled his offending in plain sight". She added: "The courage shown by these young people should be an example to us all. The victims have shown bravery and strength working with the review after a gruelling trial so that we could learn whatever lessons we could to protect other children. I’d like to thank them for this from the bottom of my heart." Last year, the jury returned guilty verdicts on the charges and cleared Foden of one count of sexual activity with a child. Foden denied all of the offences, insisting he was not an "abusive adult". He told the jury that he was unable to engage in sexual activity due to erectile dysfunction caused by a medical condition. The report was due to be released last Wednesday. But late on Tuesday afternoon an official statement from the board announced the publication of the Child Practice Review was being delayed while "the board considers its legal obligations and information-sharing further". This led to a legal case being initiated against Gwynedd council by solicitors representing up to 12 individuals who claimed they had suffered due to Foden. The council commissioned its own report into what happened after concerns were raised in 2019 but those findings have not yet been made public.
