Former head teacher denies sexual abuse of children

A former high school head teacher accused of sexual offences against children told a girl he was “feeling slightly horny” because he wanted to be “complimentary”, a court has heard.

Neil Foden told Mold Crown Court on Thursday he was not “an abusive adult” but described the message as “extremely stupid”.

The 66-year-old denies preying on five youngsters, who cannot be identified.

The court heard in one message sent to a girl, referred to as child A, Foden said he was feeling “slightly horny”.

Foden, who said he had erectile dysfunction caused by a medical condition, told the court: “The sad reality is Mr Foden couldn’t feel slightly horny if he wanted to.”

He admitted he had been due to see the girl that Wednesday.

He said: “It was intended to be something which was complimentary to her rather than actually a statement of fact.

“It was something I hoped would make her feel attractive.”

When Judge Rhys Rowlands asked to confirm the message was meant to be complimentary, Foden said: “I’m not trying to defend it as being appropriate for a minute, your honour, but that is the reason it was sent.”

A video showing child A in the back of Foden’s car, with his hand reaching back from the driver’s seat to hold her hand, was shown to the court.

Foden said: “I would do that if she was either distressed or, sometimes, if she got into the car she’d be feeling very low.”

He claimed he sent a message asking the girl for videos because he wanted to make sure she was alright, but denied asking for her to send anything sexual or inappropriate.

He accepted she sent him sexual images, which he said he felt “uncomfortable” with and later tried to delete.

He said he moved the messages into a secure folder, which a PIN code was needed to access, because he thought they would be easier to delete in a separate folder.

The defendant, who is alleged to have had a urination fetish, denied pressing on child A’s bladder and causing her to wet herself while she was in his car.

He said the car was his first real “luxury vehicle” and told the court: “There’s absolutely no way I’d want someone urinating in it or releasing any bodily fluid.”

Foden, of Old Colwyn, North Wales, denies 13 counts of sexual activity with a child, two counts of sexual activity with a child in a position of trust, and one count each of causing or inciting child sexual activity, attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence, sexual communication with a child, possession of indecent photographs of a child and sexual assault of a child.