S4C defends paedophile head teacher drama amid 'too soon' criticism

A new three-part S4C drama about paedophile head teacher Neil Foden has divided opinion, with some feeling it's "too soon" while others say it's the "only way" to address unanswered questions.

Foden, from Conwy county, was jailed for 17 years for 19 charges involving four girls and a Child Practice Review found he was a "prolific sex offender who harmed many children".

Announcing the 2027 drama called Y Pennaeth (The Head Teacher), starring Welsh actor Mark Lewis Jones as Foden, S4C said it was an "important and shocking story" which would question how Foden's crimes came about.

But one child protection expert said it was the wrong time and risked presenting Foden as "some kind of anti-hero".

Helen Mary Jones, a former Plaid Cymru Member of Senedd and an independent child protection expert, said "it's important that we ask to what extent will the voices of the survivors be at the heart of all this?"

"There are plenty of television programmes that have contributed to positive social change, " she told BBC Radio Cymru's Dros Frecwast programme.

"[But] to what extent is there a risk that the programme will portray Neil Foden as some kind of anti-hero?

"I hope that the companies responsible for producing the programme place the survivors' voices at the centre of the story. If they succeed in giving the victims a voice, it could an incredibly important drama."

Leena Farhat, a town councillor in Llanfairfechan, Conwy county, agreed it was too soon for the drama.

"I would like to see a documentary made, just not yet," she said.

Farhat has started a petition calling on the Welsh government to launch a statutory public inquiry into the Foden case, as she believed its "power to compel evidence" could help address unanswered questions.

She said Foden had been raised "briefly" in the Senedd ahead of the summer break.

"I think it's the right time to have that discussion [but] it's too early to judge the Welsh government on that, and there are things that they can do," she said.

Farhat said she believed television was "a really good way for some people to get closure and for some to learn lessons", citing ITV's Mr Bates v The Post Office drama as an example.

But she was worried there was a risk the programme's timing could allow the seriousness and urgency of those lessons to be trivialised, and put down to being "just a drama", or even "pervert the course of justice".

She said she lived in the catchment area for Ysgol Friars in Bangor, Gwynedd, where Foden was head, and knew people who had attended the school who now did not want to have it on their CV due to the "connotations".

"There is a real human element that has been missed," she said.

"Whether you agree or disagree with the drama, nobody wants to see this happen again."

S4C said the drama was based on evidence and notes from the trial at Mold Crown Court, and an independent report on the case by expert Jan Pickles.

It added the author and production company had been in contact with North Wales Police, who had offered additional support to survivors, and had also worked with a journalist, who was a contact point between them and those affected by the events.

Gwenllian Gravelle, S4C's drama and film commissioner, said the programme written by Llinos Gerallt and produced by Mojo Productions was "an important and shocking story about how one man in a position of trust and power betrayed his status over a period of many years, and asks difficult questions about cultures where one individual is seen as someone who cannot be challenged".

"Developed with great care and sensitivity, the production deals with the subject in a responsible way, focusing on the wider results of the betrayal by a public figure who was entrusted with responsibility and care," she said.

Llyr Morus, the series' producer from Mojo, added "no one has raised concerns or asked us not to do it".

He told BBC Radio Cymru's Dros Ginio programme it "might be too strong to say [Foden's victims] are happy... but what they feel is that productions of this kind gives them a voice, help with coming to terms with what has happened, and reassure them that people are listening and believe what has happened to them".

"It is seen as a step towards survival, and it could have a positive impact on the future," he said.

Dai Davies, a former chief superintendent at Scotland Yard, specialising in child protection, said his initial reaction to S4C's announcement was 'why on Earth are they doing this?'.

"But the more I've looked into it... the more I can see there are so many questions still outstanding," he said.

He said it was "crucial" that people be able to ask questions "without fear or favour", adding he wanted there to be an "ethical structure in each school" where anyone concerned about the behaviour of an educator could "take it forward" and have it investigated.

Davies added: "In my 55 years of involvement in policing security worldwide, I am fed up of being told [after] each inquiry 'we have learned the lessons'. Quite often, we haven't, and we haven't implemented the recommendations that have come from so many inquiries into paedophiles. It's time somebody got a grip."

He said Foden was "dominant in Welsh education" and "bombastic" and so "no one dared question".

He said Foden's victims "want answers and they want questions asked".

"So if this is the only way in this country that we get proper answers, then so be it."

Llion Iwan, S4C's chief content officer, said it was "natural" that concerns would be raised "about such a severe case as this one".

However, he added, the focus during the two-year development of the drama had "remained on the survivors, and the systematic failures".

"The focus, despite the title and the well-known actor in the main role, is on the failures and the individuals that were trying to raise questions."

The Welsh government said it had accepted all of the review recommendations directed at it in full and "continue to drive forward implementation".

"We recognise renewed public attention may be extremely difficult for survivors, their families and communities, and their privacy, wellbeing and voices must remain central to any public discussion of this case," it said.

"Our focus remains on ensuring the lessons identified from serious failings and missed opportunities are acted upon and that safeguarding arrangements continue to be strengthened."