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A woman who suffered years of physical and mental torture by her “sadistic” adoptive mother and became a passionate advocate for survivors of abuse died at the age of 35.
Victoria Spry, who was abused by Eunice Spry for almost 20 years, wrote and spoke about her experiences trying to help other people facing the same type of torment. She also worked alongside social services in Gloucestershire to try to help them prevent such a tragic case from happening again.
Details about the circumstances of Victoria’s death have not been released, but police do not consider him a suspect. An investigation will be conducted.
In 2007, the Bristol Crown Court heard that Spry beat Victoria and two other children with metal sticks and bars, rubbed their skin with sandpaper, and forced them to eat lard, bleach, vomit and even their own feces.
He treated the children as if they were his slaves, ordering one of them to remain in a wheelchair for four years even though he could walk, so that Spry could claim the benefits.
Spry, a Jehovah’s Witness who was seen as a pillar of her local community in Tewkesbury, punished the children because she thought they were possessed by the devil, and once kept two of them imprisoned, naked and starving, in a room for one month. .
In jailing her for 14 years, Judge Simon Darwall-Smith told Spry, then 62, that it was the worst case he had encountered in his career. He told her: “You were careful to carry out what can be described as sadistic torture without getting caught. If it was just my decision, he would face a sentence from which he would not be released. “
Darwall-Smith continued to criticize welfare professionals who did not realize the abuse of children. Spry’s sentence was reduced to 12 years on appeal and she was released in 2014.
One of Victoria’s foster brothers said she wanted to be remembered not for what Spry did to her, but for the work she did to help people afterward. Joanna Nicolas, author and independent safeguards consultant, described Victoria as “one of a kind,” adding: “She was extraordinary for not having anger towards a system that failed her or even towards the woman who tortured her. All I wanted to do was help others. “
Speaking in 2015 about her role in social services, Victoria said, “It’s really nice to be going to the same office where I was disappointed when I was little, now as a young woman helping other children.”
Spry was convicted of 26 counts including unlawful wounding, cruelty to a person under the age of 16, assault that caused actual bodily harm, perverting the course of justice, and intimidation of witnesses.
