02/07/2014 BBC Points West


02/07/2014

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A woman from Gloucestershire says she'll do

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all she can to stop the woman who abused her for 20 years from being

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Victoria Spry was mentally and physically tortured

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by her adoptive mother, Eunice Spry, from when she was just a baby.

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But now, Eunice Spry is due to be released from prison and, according

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At home with her beloved dogs, and after a childhood filled with

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terror and torture Victoria Spry is at last at peace.

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It's now seven years since the woman Victoria still calls

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mum was sent to prison for what a judge called the worst case of child

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Eunice Spry was a foster mother, to the outside world a pillar

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of the community, but behind closed doors she spent nearly

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20 years mentally and physically torturing the children in her care.

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Routinely starving them, beating them, making them drink

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bleach then eat their own vomit and forcing sticks down their throats.

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I would be gagging and crying and she said that I had a weak mind, it

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was all mind over matter. I was about five years old. After a I

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would scream in pain. I would not scream because I was being

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rebellious, like she said I was just in pain. Then she would smash a

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stick down our throats. I remember giving up. I was in so much pain.

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There was no more fight left. I had to go to the dentist and get

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dentures. Because you lost your teeth? Yes. They kept building them

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At one point, Victoria was stripped naked, tied up, blindfolded

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and left in the corner of a freezing cold room at this derelict farmhouse

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Astonishingly, though, the signs were ignored.

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Opportunities to help the children were missed by the authorities.

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And it was only years later, when driven to the brink of suicide,

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that Victoria spoke out and Spry was arrested.

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It was harrowing, going into court and giving evidence, and seeing the

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sticks with teeth marks on, and seeing the notes that I wrote when I

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was a baby at asking neighbours to be my mother. Things that I had

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forgotten, it was difficult to see. I really thought that she was going

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She was sentenced to 14 years in prison, but now,

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seven years later, is due to be released and is due to be housed

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Something that Victoria has started a petition against, which now has

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I have worked so hard to build a life for myself and I wanted to

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carry on and carry on being as happy as I am. I cannot see her again. She

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messed with my head. I am not frightened of her physically, but it

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would knock me for six. Victoria Spry speaking to

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Laura Jones. The Ministry

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of Justice has told us tonight that serious offenders released

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on licence are subject to strict conditions and controls including

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restrictions on their movements. If they fail to comply with

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these conditions, they can be A man's been charged tonight

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with the murder of Tom Rogers. The 60`year`old was fatally

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stabbed near Swindon railway 28`year`old Jason Voong from

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the town has also been charged with the attempted murder of 24`year`old

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Leanne James from the Swindon. It is alleged that she was attacked

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in the same location on 8th May. Jason Voong is due to appear

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before Chippenham Magistrates Court A new report has revealed Bristol

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and Bath has the highest concentration of technology firms

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anywhere outside London. The news comes

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as six technology companies begin recruiting in Bristol, offering

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hundreds of highly skilled jobs. Why am I gripping the edge

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of the chair? They call it the innovation lab

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and I am trying out It is fun,

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but they are not making games here, they are finding ways to use cool

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technology to sell products. I spent 13 months trying to recruit

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people in London We interviewed people in Bristol,

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people want permanent jobs here They call this Tech City, Europe's

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highest concentration of tech firms. But according to today's report,

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Bristol is a close second, and for businesses being

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near other companies is important. Think about how new ideas are

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formed, how businesses merge. People need to be together

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to do that, in the cities. That is why places like Bristol are

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more and more attractive to people So today hundreds of West Country?s

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tech entrepreneurs are gathered Brunel technology here,

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modern technology on offer. This part

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of the world now getting a global We're back with you with

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breakfast news tomorrow. I'll leave you with Ian,

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who has our evening forecast. The dry weather continues for a

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little while longer. Tomorrow will have more in the way of cloud,

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particularly in the North. Dry conditions and warm conditions as

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well. Through tonight, we will see dry weather all the way through,

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temperatures around ten or 12 Celsius. Some cloud going from the

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south west across the Bristol Channel, around the coastal fringes

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tomorrow morning. Tomorrow will stop with dry conditions. The best of the

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sunshine through the day will be squeezed towards the south east. If

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you come towards the north, there will be some medium level cloud as

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well. You can season spots of rain from that across Wales. I doubt that

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much of that will affect our districts. The temperatures will be

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in the low 20s. A high pollen count. On Friday, clearing away the

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rain on Saturday, showers and cooler fresher weather

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through this weekend. With more on that here's Louise.

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