Foster son of ‘Britain’s most sadistic mum’ claims she forced kids to eat their own poo and rammed knives down throats
THE foster son of “Britain’s most sadistic mum” has revealed for the first time his “haunting” life inside her house of torture.
Caleb Gilbert, 28, was raised by ‘psychopath’ Eunice Spry, now 76, who inflicted horrific and sickening abuse on some of her kids.
Spry forced three – Victoria, Alloma and Christopher – to eat their own poo.
She also rammed sticks, hot pokers and knives down their throats and rubbed their faces raw – until they bled – with sandpaper.
The twisted woman locked them up for weeks at a time, made them eat vomit, and attacked them with cricket bats and machetes.
After heroic Victoria eventually managed to escape and raise the alarm, Spry was caged for 14 years – reduced to 12 on appeal – and was released in 2014.
Sadly, earlier this month it was confirmed that Spry’s foster daughter, who was abused by “Britain’s most sadistic mum” for 17 years, was found dead aged 35.
Her foster brother Caleb has now spoken to tell his side of the story for the first time.
Caleb has told how he was bizarrely spared from the most extreme abuse his siblings received between 1986 and 2005.
While he saw beatings – which he was convinced were “normal” – he only found out about the worst abuse years later, via his big brother’s chilling autobiography.
He thinks Spry, a Jehovah’s Witness, spared him because he was young enough for her to believe she could “mould” him.
Aged 13 when Spry was arrested, Caleb revealed she chillingly shouted “mummy loves you” at him as cops carried her from their filthy home.
Manipulative Spry kept Caleb out of school, and as he wasn’t given lessons until he was rescued, aged 13, he still struggles to read and write.
So horrifying was the experience that 15 years on from his escape, he’s still left breathless if he sees someone in the street who looks like evil Spry.
She lied to him, telling him she was his birth mother – and he only found out the truth when he met his genetic parents after he was rescued.
He was taken into care as a baby and given to Spry, who had already taken in two of his genetic siblings, Alloma and Christopher.
Caleb, who lives in Gloucester said: “I never understood why other kids were allowed to go to school and I wasn’t allowed to. But I didn’t question it. I thought it was a perfectly normal thing to do.
“To be honest, a lot of it was kept away from me.
“Most of it would happen if I wasn’t around, like if I was playing outside.
“I can’t really remember any specific really bad things happening in front of me.
“I saw some things like them being slapped or beaten on the feet or bum with bamboo sticks.
“But growing up very sheltered from anything else, I thought that was normal. I thought everyone went through that, hence why I never mentioned it to anyone.”
It wasn’t until his key worker read out his brother, Christopher’s, book on how he was “disciplined” with poles, sticks and knives on their remote Tewkesbury farmhouse that he found out the truth.
Christopher described Spry as a “torturous, twisted person, a psycho.”
Caleb said: “That’s when I found out about them drinking bleach, and sticks going down peoples’ throats.
“I sort of knew that she had done horrible things, but I didn’t have any clue about what extent. I didn’t see it.
“I shut off and I react like it didn’t happen. I could explain it as going numb.”
He recalled of Spry’s dramatic arrest: “I woke up to a massive commotion and three armed police in my bedroom, so I obviously knew then that something was wrong.
“I remember Eunice as she was being carried away saying ‘mummy loves you, mummy loves you’ to me.
“I do get nervous sometimes; not of bumping into her but if there is a loud noise outside, I get really nervous.”
He added: “If I see a woman with the same colour hair, or looks similar, my heart still jumps a beat, in a bad way.
“My mates are like ‘oh my god, you look like you’ve seen a ghost’, and I will say ‘no, I just thought that was Eunice’.”
Caleb was not physically abused like the rest of his siblings.
He said: “I reckon it might have been because I was taken away so young so maybe I was more impressionable, so she thought she could mould my mind into what she wanted.”
Victoria and her siblings were battered and attacked with hot pokers, machetes and cricket bats and had their heads held under water.
Spry of Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, was convicted of 26 charges of child abuse against children in her foster care in April 2007.
She was sentenced to 14 years’ imprisonment and ordered to pay £80,000 costs.
In sentencing, the judge told Spry that it was the “worst case in his 40 years practising law”.
Caleb said the last time he saw her was after he was rescued from their filthy house – at a contact centre after she had been arrested – but he understandably has no desire to see her again.
“The further away from she stays from me the better,” he said.
While Caleb escaped the physical tortured doled out by his foster mother, he said being kept out of school until he was freed, left its mark.
She’s a very messed up person; a bit like a serial killer but without the murder.
Caleb Gilbert
“I was brought up almost to be underdeveloped, like an adult child,” he said.
“I still don’t know how to make a bed or tie my shoelaces. I can’t spell or read very well, and my maths is completely useless.”
Caleb said he suffers with alcohol dependency issues, for which he is seeking help and working through with professionals.
He added: “I think I would have discovered drinking at some point anyway, but what the family went through must have something to do with it.
“Most people don’t turn into an alcoholic unless something bad has happened to them.”
YOU'RE NOT ALONE
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide.
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
That is why The Sun launched the You’re Not Alone campaign.
The aim is that by sharing practical advice, raising awareness and breaking down the barriers people face when talking about their mental health, we can all do our bit to help save lives.
Let’s all vow to ask for help when we need it, and listen out for others… You’re Not Alone.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
- CALM, www.thecalmzone.net, 0800 585 858
- Heads Together, www.headstogether.org.uk
- Mind, www.mind.org.uk, 0300 123 3393
- Papyrus, www.papyrus-uk.org, 0800 068 41 41
- Samaritans, www.samaritans.org, 116 123
Caleb said his sister called him to tell him that Victoria had died.
Her death is not being treated as suspicious and an inquest has been opened.
He said Victoria had suffered with mental health and alcohol problems in the past, but had battled through them.
“It must have been through what happened to her, growing up with Eunice,” Caleb added.
He said that while he’s “not an angry person, I find it quite shocking how it seems Eunice can still affect people numerous years later.
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“What she did is still affecting people – all of us really – and with Victoria it’s ended in a tragedy.
“For me, it’s affected my mental health, with depression, and left me with difficulties in doing normal things.
“How I feel about Eunice now is I think she’s a very twisted person. She’s a very messed up person; a bit like a serial killer but without the murder.”
Contact the Samaritans
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article contact The Samaritans on 116 123. They are available for free at anytime.
Or email https://www.samaritans.org/