A Welsh headteacher has been found guilty of sexual abuse involving four girls. Neil Foden, 66, who worked at a school in North Wales, was charged with 20 offences against five girls, who cannot be identified to protect their anonymity.
He stood impassively in the dock at Mold Crown Court as the jury foreman read out the guilty verdicts on 19 out of 20 indictments. The jury of seven women and five men delivered their verdicts on the defendant, of Gwynant, Old Colwyn, after a three-week trial.The judge His Honour Rhys Rowlands called him “arrogant and controlling” man who was used to getting his own way. He said some explanations for his behaviour “beggared belief”.
The court heard concerns about Foden were raised with Cyngor Gwynedd at an earlier stage. Judge Rowlands said: “When real concerns were first raised about the defendant with the county council they were simply dismissed, pretty much out of hand.”
He said no investigation was carried out and no notes were taken. He added: “We now know he continued to offend. That’s very concerning indeed.”
Foden was convicted of sexual activity with a child, using or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, attempting to arrange or incite sexual activity with a child by penetration, engaging in sexual communication with a child, two counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust and possession of an indecent photograph of a child.
He adjourned the case for a pre-sentence report to be made. Foden is due to be sentenced at Mold Crown Court on July 1. The judge told him to expect a sentence of some length.
A Cyngor Gwynedd spokesperson said: “As a council, we welcome the court’s decision. We are appalled by the nature of the crimes committed and commend and admire the remarkable courage and resilience the victims and their families have displayed throughout the process.
They said: “As a result, pastoral arrangements put in place for pupils at the start of the criminal proceedings will continue for the foreseeable future.
From the beginning of this case, Cyngor Gwynedd has worked closely with North Wales Police to ensure that the Wales Safeguarding Procedures have been followed in full.
If you have suffered abuse or would like to discuss experiences, please contact our specialist child abuse solicitor, Charles Derham on the following:
E: charles@remedylaw.co.uk
T: 02393552513
A former staff member of a boarding school who sexually abused five boys there has been jailed for 25 years.
Maurice Lambell was sentenced after failing to turn up to a 3 October hearing where his co-accused Keith Figes was jailed for 27 years.
Lambell, an ex-pupil of Berrow Wood School in Worcestershire, returned as an employee in 1970 when he was a teen.
Jailing him at Worcester Crown Court, Judge Martin Jackson said “brutality and sadism reigned supreme” there.
Berrow Wood in Pendock, between Tewkesbury and Malvern, opened in 1966 for “maladjusted” boys, who were sent there by social services from areas across England, sometimes more than 100 miles from home.
One man who was sexually abused by Lambell said he now avoided Pendock “like the plague”.
Lambell, 69, of Wigan, who carried out his abuse between 1970 and 1974, had denied 30 historical offences but was found guilty by a jury.
He was aged between 16 and 19 during the period in question, according to his defence team, which told the court Lambell had himself been abused while a pupil there.
The school shut in 1992.
When sentencing, Judge Jackson said he had to take into account Lambell’s age at the time of the offences.
But he added the crimes still took a great deal of planning and had caused “physiological harm that no one deserves”.
Judge Jackson said such material showed how Lambell still had an “unhealthy interest in young boys”.
Lambell, originally from Plymouth, said he had not turned up for his original sentencing hearing on 3 October due to an episode of self harm.
He had been granted bail prior to that hearing date to get his affairs in order but was arrested after breaking his conditions.
At least two of Lambell’s victims were also abused by Figes, the court heard.
The jailed pair are the eighth and ninth staff members to be convicted of abuse at Berrow Wood School.
In 1993, six men were convicted of physical abuse against boys at the school, while Barry Hastings was jailed for sexual abuse in 2019.
If you have suffered abuse at the hands of Figes or would like to discuss experiences, please contact out specialist child abuse solicitor, Charles Derham on the following:
E: charles@remedylaw.co.uk
T: 02393552513
