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'Sadistic' carer's sentence cut | |
(10 minutes later) | |
A foster mother who abused three children in her care has had her 14-year jail sentence cut by two years. | A foster mother who abused three children in her care has had her 14-year jail sentence cut by two years. |
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. | 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. | The abuse, which was described in her trial as "sadistic", included forcing sticks down the children's throats. |
The High Court in London reviewed the sentence and she will now serve a total of 12 years. | The High Court in London reviewed the sentence and she will now serve a total of 12 years. |
Spry was found guilty of a range of charges from unlawful wounding, cruelty to a person under 16, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, perverting the course of justice and witness intimidation. | |
Care system | |
At her trial Judge Simon Darwall-Smith told Spry it was the worst case he had come across in 40 years. | |
He told her: "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." | |
Following Spry's conviction, Gloucestershire County Council apologised for the "shortcomings" in its care system. | |
Despite arousing suspicions and causing concern, she persistently kept one step ahead of the agencies who were supposed to be safeguarding the youngsters concerned. | |
Vital information which could have alerted social workers to the abuse was not shared by the various bodies involved. |