Report into Shamed Headmaster Neil Foden Delayed

Victims of paedophile Neil Foden say they are upset and angry after a long-awaited report into the activities of the shamed North Wales headmaster was delayed hours before it was due to be published.

Solicitor Katherine Yates said her clients have cooperated with the report’s authors and are devastated at the delay in publication

The report has been in preparation for nearly a year, and victims were awaiting its publication to try to make sense of what happened to them and how the perpetrator was allowed to continue abusing children for so long. 

According to the North Wales Safeguarding Board the delay is to enable them to “consider its legal obligations and information sharing further”. 

Katherine Yates is a solicitor at Andrew Grove and Co, a firm specialising in obtaining redress for victims of sexual, physical and emotional abuse who were abused in schools or children’s homes.

She said her firm is acting for 22 claimants who allege that they were sexually, physically or emotionally abused by Foden at various times between 1979 and 2023.

“My clients have cooperated with the report’s authors and are devastated at the delay in publication,” explained Katherine.

“They want answers and cannot understand why there was no warning. It adds insult to injury that the delay was announced literally hours before it was due. Surely whatever has caused it was known about longer than a few hours before the proposed date of publication? My clients are upset and angry at the delay and the lack of a clear explanation for it.”

Neil Foden, aged 68, was arrested at Ysgol Friars in September 2023 charged and put on trial. In July 2024 he was sentenced to 17 years’ imprisonment at Mold Crown Court for the sexual abuse of teenage girls.

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.

One of Katherine’s clients, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “I couldn’t believe it when they said on the news that the report would not be published today. I was really looking for answers. I feel that I only know part of the picture which is like a big jigsaw, and I only have the pieces relating to my own experiences with Mr Foden. 

“I feel that the report will have so many more pieces of the jigsaw. Now I wonder if the report will ever be released or will I live forever in the dark about why the abuse happened to me?”

Katherine added: “We need a proper explanation.  Is it because individuals apart from Mr Foden are named in the report and could have been complicit in the silencing of any complaints about his behaviour? We really need to know what is going on.”

Solicitors with conduct are Katherine Yates and Charlotte Denley and both can be contacted for further information on 01223 367133 or 07810 224545.