Pressure on council boss to quit over paedophile head

A council boss who has refused to apologise to the victims of a paedophile head teacher is under pressure to quit.

Senior Plaid Cymru figures have told BBC Wales that Dyfrig Siencyn’s comments to Newyddion S4C about Neil Foden had made his position untenable.

Foden was sentenced to 17 years in prison for sexually abusing four children between 2019 and 2023.

Rhun ap Iorwerth, the party leader, has also failed to support the Cyngor Gwynedd leader in an interview, calling for him to “reflect on the question of the apology”.

A Plaid source said the row was “casting a shadow” over their annual conference, which started in Cardiff on Friday.

Siencyn had declined to back calls from senior members of his party for a public inquiry into the council’s processes.

Foden was head at Ysgol Friars in Bangor and strategic head of Ysgol Dyffryn Nantlle, Penygroes, both in Gwynedd.

The Plaid source called the council leader “stubborn” and said his position was “completely untenable”.

Speaking on Radio Wales Breakfast, ap Iorwerth said: “We don’t know exactly what has gone wrong over the past few decades, potentially, but we need to do whatever it takes.”

Asked if he had confidence in the council leader, ap Iorwerth failed to support him directly, instead saying: “I have confidence, absolutely, that Gwynedd council understands that there’s one job to do here.

“Nothing else is important, and that’s to get to the truth on behalf of all those young people who have suffered at the hands of this paedophile.2

Pressed on whether he would say sorry, he replied: “Everybody involved in any way has to apologise, of course. We don’t really know what it is what the apology is for as yet.”

While Foden’s convictions are for offences in recent years, BBC Wales Investigates has spoken to people who said Foden may have abused pupils since 1979.

Gwynedd’s own review has been criticised, with two victims saying they had not been contacted at all.

In an interview with Newyddion S4C, Siencyn refused to apologise to victims on behalf of the council.

“We need to deal with this early and quickly, and I think the Child Practice Review is the best way to do this,” he said.

“There is total agreement about the need to find out what went wrong and if anything within our processes went wrong.”

Plaid’s Dwyfor Meirionnydd representatives in both the Senedd and Westminster, as well as Gwynedd cabinet member for education Beca Brown are among senior party members that have called for a public inquiry.

Liz Saville-Roberts, MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, said the council had a duty of care to children and should be subject to an independent review.