Victoria Evans, Christopher Spry and Alloma Gilbert suffered 19 years of abuse during a campaign of terror at the hands of Eunice Spry, the woman they called “mother.” Spry was identified as being a “devout” Jehovah’s Witness.
Spry, 70, was ordered jailed for 12 years after she was found guilty of 26 charges of child abuse against her two foster children and an adopted daughter.
Spry, born in Gloucester and from Tewkesbury, UK, routinely abused the children placed in her care, forcing them to sleep in a barn, drink bleach and urine, stand naked and cold for hours on end, inflicted vicious beatings, fed them cat food, and made them vomit.
Victoria, now 28, was only two years old when Spry began her beatings at her farmhouse near Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. Spry caught her pulling labels off some tinned cat food; Spry lost her temper and forced the tiny girl to eat the contents of the can as punishment.
Christopher said his foster-mother, who was known as a “devout Jehovah’s Witness,” told him that he was “demonized.”
“She thought I was demonized…that I was working in Satan’s name…we were the Devil’s offspring,” he revealed.
Spry made the children stand against a wall for hours, forced them to sleep in a barn, and to use a hose to clean themselves. Spry’s biological children, Judith and Charlotte, slept in their own bedrooms in the house and were well cared for.
Spry meted out vicious beatings to her “adopted children.” On some occasions, she would shove sticks down their throats.
Christopher endured Spry’s worst treatment when he was just ten years old, suffering horrific beating and physical torture when Spry tied his feet to the bumper of her van and sped off across a newly plowed field. Chris tells the story as he remembered it:
“I blacked out multiple times. I was bleeding all over. I kept waking up and I was still being dragged. Then she just took the rope off the van at the end and I couldn’t move. I can’t remember [anything for] the next few days. I probably should have died. And I’ll tell you what – being dragged around that field – I wish I had. There is no way to describe how horrific that was. That is my worst memory of being with Eunice Spry.”
Spry frightened the children into not telling their teachers anything if they asked about bruises or marks. Rebecca eventually managed to tell her friends what was happening and they finally went to the police.
All three siblings testified against Spry. In April 2007 “Britain’s most sadistic mother” was ordered jailed for 14 years. Judge Simon Darwell-Smith labeled the foster mother’s reign of terror as one of the “worst I’ve seen in 40 years.”
In spite of the terror that she inflicted on these young people when they were still tiny children, Eunice Spry was released in the summer of 2014 after serving just seven years. Not only that, but the 70-year old Spry was provided with a residence just a few miles from where her victims now live.
Late in 2014, despite their horrific ordeal, all three shared their stories as part of a British documentary in an episode of the “Darkest Taboos” series. The episode was titled “Britain’s Most Sadistic Mother.” You can watch the YouTube version provided below for yourself, but expect to be shocked and sickened when you see what Spry did to those innocent young people.
One victim, Rebecca, responded to the news of Spry’s release. “Why do criminals have more rights than their victims? She has served her punishment, but mine will never leave me.”
Christopher Spry added, “She’s ruined my life. She’s a torturous, evil, twisted person, a psycho – and we’re very lucky hasn’t killed someone.”
He is right. Eunice Spry has not “killed someone” – yet…
Additional Notes:
Eunice Spry, 70, was jailed for 12 years after she was found guilty of 26 charges of child abuse against her two foster children and adopted daughter. Spry, born in Gloucester and from Tewkesbury, UK, routinely beat and abused the children, forcing them to drink bleach and urine, eat their own vomit, and stand naked and cold for hours on end. Despite those atrocious acts, authorities told one of her victims, Victoria, now 28, that Eunice Spry would be provided a residence within 25 miles from her home after Spry’s release from prison in July, 2014.
Victoria launched a Facebook page and a started a petition to gather support, asking the Ministry of Justice – National Offender Management Service to reconsider housing her former abuser so close to where she lives. Victoria also appeared on television in the UK to explain why she did not want “this added assault to her freedom to live peacefully in her hometown.” She wanted to make sure there was no possibility of incidentally meeting her former adopted mother. Victoria added:
“For me personally it was a very tough decision to give my identity away – it was very very precious to me. I wrote a pro and con list, a big circle on the cons list was around people getting violent towards Eunice when [they became] aware of her release. People mistake me not advocating violence towards her as ‘protecting her.’ No. She has enough casualties in her wake. I’m simply not wishing anyone else joins that list.”
She told the “Gloucester Citizen”:
“I just want her to leave me alone so I can get on with my life. I’ve thought quite a lot about it. I don’t want to let what happened to me and my brother and sisters define me.”
Her petition was the first step to ensuring Victoria and her siblings never have to face Eunice Spry again.
[Link to Amazon.com: Child C: Surviving a Foster Mother’s Reign of Terror, by Christopher Spry ]
I, like so many other people who used to go to Clog Dance practice, had no idea of your suffering. Once all this had come to light, everything about ‘the children’ slotted into place. I wish I could have helped you, but understand why you never said anything.
Rape cover-ups by Jehovah’s Witnesses from NBC Dateline: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbKXj8R4_X8