Neil Foden: Head teacher took girl on sex trips, hears court

Neil Foden appeared in Mold Crown Court on Friday

A headteacher told a girl he is accused of abusing that he loved her and had sex with her on trips, a court has heard.

Neil Foden, from Old Colwyn, Conwy, is accused of preying on five girls over four years.

The 66-year-old was head of Ysgol Friars, in Bangor, and strategic head of Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle secondary school in Gwynedd.

He denies 20 charges, including 13 of sexual activity with a child.

A jury of seven women and five men at Mold Crown Court were played police interviews with a girl known as Child E, who described how she had been in a relationship with Mr Foden.

It heard he told the girl he was in an "awful" sexless marriage, but with her he had never felt this way before.

She said she viewed him as her "partner" and told the police they had nicknames for each other.

"He is my Mr Perfect, my Mr P," she said.

"He would call me ST - 'my little ST'."

Asked what ST stood for, Child E replied: "Sex toy."

Girl E said they contacted each other using social media, Mr Foden using code-words, referring to their secret sexual activities as, "therapy" and alerting her to his wife's presence, using the code-word "compost".

She said sexual contact began when she was under 16, after meeting up with the defendant in his BMW, and he put his hand between her legs.

The detective said: "How did you feel?"

He denies 20 charges involving five children

"Confused," Girl E said. "I knew it was wrong. I knew it should not have been happening. I look back now and see how wrong it was."

Girl E said she would catch a train and Mr Foden would meet her at the station and they would drive around, stopping in secluded laybys and remote country lanes.

This was, the court heard, "for him to have a play with me".

"He was constantly looking for new places," Girl E said, "better places. He spent a lot of time looking at maps.

"He just gradually added more things in. We did sexual things.

"It progressed quickly. I guess he got braver. There was a lot of things I wasn't comfortable with."

Sometimes, she added, Mr Foden would talk about restraining her with handcuffs.

"I think I got to a point where I was OK with it," she said, adding, "he enjoyed doing it".

The jury heard how the girl would travel to events outside of Gwynedd with Mr Foden, and they would engage in sexual activities, including penetrative sex.

Child E said Mr Foden would involve her in sex games, including restraining her in his car.

Previously the jury heard lace handcuffs were discovered in Mr Foden's car boot with DNA said to match him and Child E.

The charges against Mr Foden include 13 of sexual activity with a child

Describing the alleged relationship with Mr Foden, Child E said: "It was obviously complicated at the start. We knew people wouldn't like it.

"Did I care? No. I was happy.

"We tried to keep it between is for a while, and that's what we did."

The court heard how after Mr Foden's 2023 arrest Child E reported she had also been in a relationship with him.

She told police: "I know it was wrong, I know it shouldn't be happening. I felt safe with him.

"When he said he loved me and that I was the only one he wanted, I accepted that.

"I look back now and see how wrong it was."

An adult witness told the jury she knew Mr Foden and spotted him with a teenager in his car being "incredibly familiar".

She said: "I was astounded by it."

The trial continues.