More than 50 missed opportunities to stop paedophile head, report finds

There were more than 50 "missed opportunities" to intervene and stop a school head teacher who was able to sexually abuse girls for years, a report has found.

A Child Practice Review (CPR), led by prominent expert Jan Pickles, has looked into the crimes of 68-year-old Neil Foden, from Conwy county in north Wales, who was jailed for 17 years after being convicted of 19 charges involving four girls.

The review said Foden was a "prolific sex offender who harmed many children".

A total of 52 concerns about safeguarding and other issues were found to have been raised and not acted on by Cyngor Gwynedd council and other agencies as early as 2018, continuing until his arrest in 2023.

Ms Pickles paid tribute to the bravery of the victims and described Foden as "a sophisticated and controlling paedophile" who "created a culture which enabled his offending in plain sight".

She said safeguarding was a "multi-agency responsibility", requiring all agencies to contribute to keep children safe and follow agreed legislation, guidance and policies, adding: "In this case, those arrangements failed."

The "ambitious" recommendations the report makes are "designed to bring about the most significant change in safeguarding in schools in Wales in a generation," Ms Pickles said.

The review was unique in its size and scale, analysing 10 times the volume of information that is usually looked at in a CPR, and took more than a year to complete.

It also highlights an historical allegation dating back to 1979, not long after Foden qualified as a teacher.

The highly critical 108-page report said he was a "powerful figure" within the education community in Wales who had a "wide-ranging reputation as a bully" and also used excessive force on boys.

It said repeated warnings about Foden, who it describes as "opportunistic and determined", were either ignored or inadequately addressed.

He was arrested in September 2023 after one of his victims showed an adult a photo of themselves with Foden and screenshots of sexually explicit text messages.

Commissioned by the North Wales Safeguarding Board following his conviction in 2024, the report had been due to be published in September but was postponed just hours before it was due to be released.

A statement at the time cited the need for the board to consider "its legal obligations and information sharing further".