Date : 20.03.07
Foster mother Eunice Spry has been found guilty of subjecting children in her care to two decades of horrific abuse.
The 62-year-old, from Tewkesbury, beat them, fed them rat droppings, stopped them sleeping and rubbed their faces with sandpaper. She thrust sticks down their throats when they misbehaved and made them eat dog food.
One daughter was forced to use a wheelchair for four years even though she was perfectly able to walk.
Doctors, teachers and neighbours raised constant concerns about Spry's treatment of the children but nothing was ever done by social services.
The catalogue of abuse only came to light when one of the children went to the Jehovah's Witness elders at the church the family attended.
Spry, from Tewkesbury, was found guilty of 26 charges of cruelty after a three week trial at Bristol Crown Court. A court order banned any reporting of the case until today.
Today Gloucestershire County Council were adamant nothing like this could ever happen again.
Jo Grills, Chair of the Gloucestershire Safeguarding Board, said: "Eunice Spry is someone who other parents trusted with their children. She deliberately set out to deceive those parents and all of the agencies involved over a twenty-year period.
"The role of the Safeguarding Board is to make sure that we learn lessons from what has happened in order to prevent similar situations occurring in the future.
"Although these children were seen by many different professionals, few were a consistent presence. Information was not shared so that it was impossible for anyone to have a clear picture.
"As a result of the Victoria Climbie enquiry, one of the significant safeguards now in place is the requirement for agencies to work far more closely together and for information to be shared."
Read all the evidence, the victim's stories and exclusive background in tomorrow's Gloucestershire Echo and Citizen.
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