'Sadistic' carer fights sentence

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/gloucestershire/7637170.stm

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A foster mother who abused three children in her care is attempting to have her 14-year jail sentence cut.

Eunice Spry, from Tewkesbury, was last year found guilty of 26 accounts of physical and mental abuse as well as perverting the course of justice.

The abuse, which was described in her trial as "sadistic", included forcing sticks down the children's throats and making them eat their own vomit.

The High Court in London is reviewing her jail term.

Spry was jailed for 14 years in March 2007, after being convicted of 26 charges including cruelty and wounding.

She denied all the charges and said she loved the children.

'Premeditation'

The offences took place in two of Spry's homes in Gloucestershire between 1986 and 2005, but was not spotted by health professionals.

The abuse only came to light when one of the victims finally confided in a member of their church.

Judge Simon Darwall-Smith, who sentenced her, said it was the worst case he had come across in 40 years in law.

He added: "Frankly, it's difficult for anyone to understand how any human being could have even contemplated what you did, let alone with the regularity and premeditation you employed."

After the trial, Gloucestershire County Council apologised for "shortcomings" in its systems and said lessons would be learned from the case.