Neil Foden: School head says girl relationship was inappropriate

A school head teacher accused of sexually abusing five young girls has said he knew his relationship with one teenager was "inappropriate".

But Neil Foden, 66, who pleads not guilty to 20 charges, denied anything sexual had taken place. 

He told Mold Crown Court he would meet one complainant, known as Child A, and go for "road trips" with her.

He compared the experience to "caving", likening it to the moment when "you go so far and can't go back".

"I looked at locations for walks so we could talk, she valued those conversations," he told the jury, before adding that they had only ever stayed in the car.

"She fantasised about sitting in a car and looking at the view," said Mr Foden, from Old Colwyn in Conwy. 

However, when asked by his defence barrister Duncan Bould if the pair had become "sexually entangled", he said they had not.

"I didn't want her sexually, I didn't want her romantically," Mr Foden added.

Questioned about a number of late night WhatsApp messages sent between the two "with reciprocated love and kisses", he said he had "got into a pattern of sending affectionate messages to help her feel better".

He said he never discussed what was happening with anyone else, adding he "knew it was inappropriate." 

Regarding a message about oral sex he had sent to her, which had previously been shown to the court, he said he had explained the process because Child A had asked about it.

Mr Foden added that it only seemed as though he was detailing what he would do to her because the message had been taken out of context.

He was later asked about pictures and videos that Child A had sent him and he said he had never asked for them.  

Mr Foden admitted that he did not tell her not to send them because he "didn't want to upset her".

"I would compliment her appearance online, but in person I would tell her it was inappropriate," he said.

He admitted to having routinely deleted the WhatsApp messages containing the pictures but had not known they had been saved elsewhere on his phone.  

Later he found them and deleted them, he said, because he was concerned Child A's father had seen them.

"I wasn't aware police had been called," he said. 

Mr Foden was then asked about the other girls about whom charges against him relate.

He admitted touching the left shoulder of Child B but denied "squeezing" parts of Child C's body and touching her "in a sexual way".

He told the court that he would put his arm around Child C if she was upset and would always ask first.

Asked about Child D, he said he had not behaved in a "flirty way" towards her and the only physical contact with her was on one occasion when he placed his hand on her shoulder.

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

The trial continues.