Parent told of ‘files and files’ of complaints about head teacher | UK News

A parent who raised concerns about Neil Foden for excluding her son from school says she was told “files and files of complaints” had been made against the paedophile head teacher more than a decade before he was jailed.

Linda, not her real name, said a council officer at Cyngor Gwynedd told her in 2009 she wasn’t the first parent to raise concerns about Foden, after her son was kicked out of Ysgol Friars in Bangor.

Parents, pupils, and staff have described Foden creating a culture of fear at the school by bullying staff and intimidating families.

Cyngor Gwynedd council said it had committed to acting on all conclusions and recommendations made in a report into Foden’s actions.

The Child Practice Review (CPR) review published this week found there were 50 “missed opportunities” to stop the 68-year-old, from Conwy county, who was jailed for 17 years after convicted of 19 charges involving four girls.

The review described Foden as a “prolific sex offender who harmed many children”. after it considered evidence from eight girls who say they were abused by him.

Linda is one of two mothers to come forward anonymously to say they were dismissed and intimidated when raising concerns about Foden.

Linda said she approached the council after Foden refused to meet with her about the grounds for exclusion.

“I had two or three phone calls with [the council officer] and [they] said I wasn’t the first parent to come to [them] with concerns like this,” she said.

“They said they had files and files of complaints regarding the draconian behaviour of Foden.

She added: “They told me that there were many concerns about child safety at the school but that trying to go ahead through the bureaucracy was difficult.”

Linda said the council officer said they would log her concerns amongst the “huge files of complaints [they] already had about Neil Foden, Friars, and staff at the school”.

Another parent, Rhiannon, also not her real name, recalled a “deeply upsetting” incident in 2014 involving her 16-year-old daughter who had been grieving the loss of her best friend to suicide when she posted critical comments on social media about Ysgol Friars’ pastoral care.

Another family had already raised concerns about the school’s support for their daughter, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia.

Rhiannon said Foden was “livid” when he saw the post, and her daughter was kept in isolation before being sent to his office.

There, Foden and senior staff “berated” her daughter for hours, she said, and warned her that her comments could “ruin her future” and affect her chances of getting into university.

She said her daughter was told she might have committed a crime, and a police officer was called to the school.

“She was terrified,” Rhiannon said.

She said in a meeting to discuss the issue Foden told her daughter: “Well, you have a filthy little mouth, don’t you?”

“I was enraged when I heard this,” Rhiannon said.

“It sickened me.”

She said that she believed Foden had “a circle of people who protected him”.

“In my opinion, it was only a matter of time before his behaviour escalated, and the people who enabled that to happen should all be held accountable,” she said.

A council spokesperson for Cyngor Gwynedd said having “no information” about these specific cases meant it was unable to comment.

They said the report into Foden had been “investigating such allegations for over a year, and we have already committed to acting on all conclusions and recommendations fully and without delay”.

One former council staff member who handled cases linked to Foden said his name came up “repeatedly” in the office.

Mari, not her real name, said it seemed that “it was accepted that Foden was a ruthless boss who ruled as he pleased”.

She said some officers “questioned the pattern” but this was not addressed by managers.

She called the culture “immoral”, claiming “some individuals were protected and promoted” and that key internal appointments often “lacked transparency, favouring personal contacts, political allies or favouritism”.

The report into Foden found he controlled the school’s governing body leading up to and during his time of offending.

Former Ysgol Friars chair Mair Edwards, who was in post for a short period up to July 2016, said there was “a lot of filtering and a lot of spinning going on which meant it was really difficult to chair effectively”.

“Foden wanted to have overall control over every aspect of the school,” she said.

“He saw it as an extension of himself in many ways.”

Ms Edwards said she resigned from the governing body in part because of the way Foden tried to run things.

She said she was “shocked” by his arrest in September 2023.

“Although there had been tribunals about his bullying behaviour, his attitude towards staff members which was very concerning, it never occurred to me that he had an unhealthy, perverted interest in children,” she said.

The Welsh government said: “We have seen vast reforms in the school system over the last decade, but the role of their governing bodies has not fundamentally changed, which is why we announced a review.

“Local authorities are currently responsible for ensuring governors are provided with the training and information they need to carry out their roles effectively.”

If you’ve been affected by issues raised in this story, there is information and support available on Action Line.