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| Foster mother guilty of cruelty | Foster mother guilty of cruelty |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A foster mother who punished three children in her care by ramming sticks down their throats has been convicted of abuse spanning 20 years. | A foster mother who punished three 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, was convicted of 26 charges and cleared of 12 charges. | Eunice Spry, 62, from Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, was convicted of 26 charges and cleared of 12 charges. |
| The prosecution said Spry's treatment was "horrifying" and "sadistic." | The prosecution said Spry's treatment was "horrifying" and "sadistic." |
| Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Board said: "She deliberately set out to deceive...all of the agencies involved over a 20-year period." | Gloucestershire Safeguarding Children Board said: "She deliberately set out to deceive...all of the agencies involved over a 20-year period." |
| The offences took place in two of Spry's homes in Gloucestershire between 1986 and 2005. | The offences took place in two of Spry's homes in Gloucestershire between 1986 and 2005. |
| She was found guilty at Bristol Crown Court 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. | She was found guilty at Bristol Crown Court 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. |
| The jury heard that the children were forced to drink bleach and eat their own vomit. | The jury heard that the children were forced to drink bleach and eat their own vomit. |
| Spry, who denied all the charges, told the court: "I'm quite a strict parent, I would say what I mean. | |
| "Yes means yes, and no means no. If you promise a child a treat, you give them one. | |
| "Likewise if you say 'You don't do that or there will be consequences', however heartbroken the child is, or I am, I would still go on with it," she said. | |
| Constant punishment | Constant punishment |
| One of the foster children told a news conference how his childhood was "incredibly tough" and that he was never able to do anything good enough to please his foster mother. | One of the foster children told a news conference how his childhood was "incredibly tough" and that he was never able to do anything good enough to please his foster mother. |
| "She'd always punish me for the slightest thing. These punishments would be anything from being forced to stay awake all night and constantly being beaten with sticks and poles all over my body. | "She'd always punish me for the slightest thing. These punishments would be anything from being forced to stay awake all night and constantly being beaten with sticks and poles all over my body. |
| "It was agonising but we had to get used to it. I was deprived of mixing with other children my age. My foster mother never showed me any love or encouragement, only negativity or abuse. | |
| "She locked me up in the bedroom once with my sister for about a month. I can't even remember what I had supposedly done wrong," he said. | |
| 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". | 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". |