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| 'Sadistic' foster mother jailed | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A woman who punished three children in her care by ramming sticks down their throats and making them eat their own vomit has been jailed for 14 years. | A woman who punished three children in her care by ramming sticks down their throats and making them eat their own vomit has been jailed for 14 years. |
| Eunice Spry, 62, from Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, was convicted at Bristol Crown Court last month, of 26 charges of abuse spanning 19 years. | Eunice Spry, 62, from Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, was convicted at Bristol Crown Court last month, of 26 charges of abuse spanning 19 years. |
| The prosecution said Spry's behaviour was "horrifying" and "sadistic". | The prosecution said Spry's behaviour was "horrifying" and "sadistic". |
| Spry had denied all the allegations against her. The offences took place in Gloucestershire between 1986 and 2005. | Spry had denied all the allegations against her. The offences took place in Gloucestershire between 1986 and 2005. |
| Spry, who was the legal parent of the three children, was arrested when police raided her home in February 2005. | Spry, who was the legal parent of the three children, was arrested when police raided her home in February 2005. |
| Frankly, it's difficult for anyone to understand how any human being could have contemplated what you did Judge Simon Darwall-Smith | Frankly, it's difficult for anyone to understand how any human being could have contemplated what you did Judge Simon Darwall-Smith |
| The 62-year-old 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. | The 62-year-old 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. |
| She was cleared of 12 charges. | She was cleared of 12 charges. |
| Judge Simon Darwall-Smith told Spry that this was the worst case he had come across in 40 years in law. | Judge Simon Darwall-Smith told Spry that this was the worst case he had come across in 40 years in law. |
| 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." | 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." |
| The slight figure in the dock who had raised some of her children in Eckington, near Pershore, Worcestershire, looked on impassively as the judge sentenced her to 14 years. | |
| He also ordered her to pay costs of £80,000, which he said would inevitably mean she would have to sell at least one of her two properties in Gloucestershire. | He also ordered her to pay costs of £80,000, which he said would inevitably mean she would have to sell at least one of her two properties in Gloucestershire. |