This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/6469849.stm

The article has changed 10 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Foster mother guilty of cruelty Foster mother guilty of cruelty
(10 minutes later)
A foster mother who punished children in her care by ramming sticks down their throats has been convicted of abuse spanning 20 years.A foster mother who punished children in her care by ramming sticks down their throats has been convicted of abuse spanning 20 years.
Eunice Spry, 62, from Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, had denied 38 charges of cruelty against three children. Eunice Spry, 62, from Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, was convicted of 26 charges and cleared of 12 charges.
She was convicted of 26 charges of cruelty to children and cleared of a further 12 charges. The jury heard that the children were forced to drink bleach and eat their own vomit.
The court heard Spry beat the children on the soles of their feet and forced them to drink bleach. The prosecution described Spry's treatment of the children as "horrifying" and "sadistic."
Bristol Crown Court heard how the devout Jehovah's Witness forced sticks down their throats and made them eat their own vomit and rat excrement. 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.
Spry, a pillar of her local community in Gloucestershire, denied all the claims made against her and insisted the only physical punishment she ever used was "a smack on the bottom". Spry, a devout Jehovah's witness, denied all the claims made against her and said the only physical punishment she ever used was "a smack on the bottom".