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A video has been released showing the moment a principal who sexually abused four girls was arrested at the secondary school where he worked.
Neil Foden, who was head of Ysgol Friars in North Wales when he committed 19 shocking offences over a four-year period between 2019 and 2023, was convicted following a trial in May.
The court heard how the 66-year-old had a “sexual obsession with young teenage girls” and was “determined” to indulge his “perverse desires”, which included a urination fetish. A police officer’s bodycam captured Foden’s arrest inside a school room in September 2023.
Footage shows him standing with his hands in his pockets as the officer tells him: “Mr Foden, unfortunately, I have to arrest you on suspicion of sexual assault of a child and sexual communication with a child.” He replies “That’s right” before being read his rights, to which he simply says: “Okay.” He would later be found guilty.
He was sentenced to 17 years behind bars at Mold Crown Court on Monday 1 July. Judge Rhys Rowlands described Foden as a commanding, bombastic character who was admired by many, but who “managed to hide a terrible secret”. Judge Rowlands told him:
“Your behavior was born out of your arrogant sense of self-worth, so much so that you believed no one would stand up to you. “You clearly have no remorse whatsoever. You have not shown an ounce of contrition for what you have done and you have no understanding of the undoubtedly very serious harm you have caused both to the individual victims and their families.”
“He has exploited both my body and my mind and as a result I feel tired and constantly ill,” said one victim, who appeared in court to read a statement. Another victim, who personally witnessed his sentencing, said: “I feel that when he made me go to court to testify he wanted to hurt me for reporting him and, instead of justice, he wanted revenge.”
A statement from a third girl Foden abused was read to the court, in which she said: “I believed him when he said he loved me and that I was the only one he wanted. “What Mr Foden did was evil. It hit me hard and I will never forgive him.” During Foden’s trial, the court was shown a video of him holding the hand of one of the girls, Girl A, as she sat in the back seat of his car, while he was in the driver’s seat. Foden was arrested after Girl 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. He encouraged Girl A to hug and kiss him, telling her she should “take this to the grave and not tell anyone”.
They exchanged messages on WhatsApp, with Foden telling the girl to delete the messages every day. The messages and contacts soon became sexualised, with Foden repeatedly sexually assaulting her, even persisting when she tried to stop him. Another complainant, child E, told police she referred to Foden as “Mr P”, for perfect, while he called her “her little sex toy”. She also described meeting him in his BMW car, which had personalised number plates, and driving to remote lay-bys and country lanes “to let him play with me”.
He sexually assaulted her multiple times in his car and also in hotels when she accompanied him on overnight trips. After Foden was arrested at school in September 2023, police later found a pair of purple and black lace handcuffs in the boot of his car, which had DNA matching Foden and the child. He was cleared of a charge of sexual activity with a child, in which he was alleged to have touched the bottom of child D.
