A solicitor representing 20 claimants who allege jailed headmaster Neil Foden physically, sexually or emotionally abused them at two schools in Wales between 1979 and 2023 is calling for a public inquiry.
Katherine Yates from Andrew Grove & Co Solicitors in Cambridge specialises in obtaining compensation for victims of sexual, physical and emotional abuse who were abused in schools or children’s homes.
She says her investigations have uncovered a major bullying problem at Ysgol Friars in Bangor which may have prevented staff from properly caring for the children in their charge.
“The conversations I’ve had indicate that this was a shambolically run school with Foden ruling the establishment with a rod of iron and intimidating staff, children and parents,” said Katherine.
“Many of the children lived in fear of being bullied by Foden and other pupils but couldn’t ask their teachers for help as they were also terrified of him, which means they couldn’t fulfil their duty of care.
“He also tried to bully school governors who found that they had little support from the education authority at Gwynedd Council. I’ve been told that after one governors’ meeting, Neil Foden physically attacked a governor and from outside the room shouting could be heard.”
Former Chair of Governors at Ysgol Friars John Nicolson said: “As a former governor and chair of governors, I witnessed many appalling situations where staff or pupils’ lives were damaged through injustice or blatant cruelty.
“No matter what complaints were brought to the attention of senior school staff or Gwynedd Council there seemed to be an inexplicable reluctance on the part of anyone in authority to deal with this man. He appeared to be protected from censure.
“I have written to the resigning councillors telling them that I reported my suspicions of illegal, even criminal activity at Friars when I was Chair of Governors. But nothing was done. If they had followed my request for a thorough investigation into the management of the school, then the suffering that many of these girls and other children went through could have been prevented.”
The mother of one of the children who was bullied at Ysgol Friars said: “My son came home once with a black eye, another time he had a split lip and was covered in blood; on another occasion, he had fractured bones in his foot and was in a cast for six weeks.
“While he was at PE one day all his school clothes were put in the shower and soaked. It was a cold February day, and he had to spend the day in a sports shirt and shorts because he had nothing else to wear.
“I was upset because when my son came home his main worry was that I would not be able to afford to replace his jumper which had gone missing. He had a miserable time at that school which affects us both still.”
Neil Foden, 66, was sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment in July this year at Mold Crown Court for the sexual abuse of teenage girls. Foden became head teacher at Ysgol Friars in Bangor in 1997 although his teaching career began in 1979 Ysgol Dyffryn Ogwen.
He was found guilty of 19 charges in total, including 12 counts of sexual activity with a child and two counts of sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust. He was also convicted of one count each of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence, sexual communication with a child, possession of indecent photographs of a child for show and sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.
The sentencing judge Judge Rowlands described Foden as being “a forceful, bullying presence” in his school, a man whom “people were afraid of crossing”.
Katherine Yates said that the bullying of children went right back to Foden’s first teaching post at Ysgol Dyffryn Ogwen.
She added: “One of my clients, who I am calling Peter, who is now in his early 50s, was hit around his head by Foden every day. Foden disliked Peter because, although he was a quiet and studious boy, his family was not well off, and he was not as well turned out as other children in the school. Peter’s parents had split up and he lived with his grandmother in a household where money was tight.
“Peter describes being picked up by Foden by his throat and shaken and then held against a wall with his feet off the ground. He was physically attacked daily by Foden until at the age of 14 he refused to attend school again.
“Peter never felt he could tell his grandmother what he was suffering at Foden’s hands because she was in poor health and had enough to worry about without his adding to her concerns. My client has never forgotten the treatment he suffered at Ysgol Dyffryn Ogwen even though this happened to him between 1980 and 1982.”
Katherine Yates believes that a public inquiry may be necessary to establish exactly how Foden escaped scrutiny and investigation for so many years.
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