A 'evil' paedophile headteacher who used young girls to satisfy his 'perverted desires' has been jailed for 17 years.
At the sentencing at Mold Crown Court today, Judge Rhys Rowlands said Foden was 'determined' to satisfy his perverted fetish desires. 'It is clear that you have no remorse. You have not shown an ounce of contrition for what you did and you have no insight into the undoubted very serious harm you have caused both to individual victims and to their families.'
In 1996 he became headteacher at Friars, one of the most high profile schools in north west Wales, with around 1,200 pupils. This cemented his power base in the upper echelons of the teaching profession. It made him possibly the most high profile headteacher in North Wales. He was often called upon to give comments in the media, including talking about sexual harassment at schools in 2021.
Foden had a reputation for strictly upholding the rules, making him a marmite character who divided opinions The court heard he would pick her up in his car and drive them to secluded areas and sexually abuse her. She also described meeting the defendant in his BMW car, which had personalised number plates, and driving to remote lay-bys and country lanes 'for him to have a play with me'.
All of his victims were described as vulnerable in one way or another, and were targeted by him for this reason. At the time, the BBC reported Foden's fitness to practise hearing was told he 'singled out' a teacher by blaming him for the cancellation of a school trip in 2014. Foden then hit the headlines in 2021 when it emerged the cook at Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle had been 'instructed not to give food to any child' in a letter written by him if school dinner debts were not cleared, even if they owed a penny
A bodycam captured the moment he was arrested, showing a police officer telling him: 'Mr Foden, unfortunately I need to arrest you on suspicion of sexual touching a child and sexual communications with a child.'Then the police officer read him his rights, informing him: 'You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention something, when questioned, which you later rely on in court.