'Abusive' Yorkshire wife who beat up husband while holding down high-powered job is jailed

Sheree Spencer, 45, of Beales Close, Market Weighton, was jailed for four years at Hull Crown Court for her coercive control and abuse of Richard Spencer.

The offences took place between 2016 and 2021, and she also admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Judge Kate Rayfield called it ‘the worst case of controlling and coercive behaviour I have seen’, and also imposed an indefinite restraining order.

Ironically, Spencer’s public sector role was in the field of prison reform. She worked for HM Prison and Probation Service as a project manager, and lived in the upmarket village of Bubwith. She told a friend she earned £55,000 for working part-time hours.

During one of the assaults, Spencer’s husband was spat at and grabbed by the throat, and another occasion bitten several times. In the third attack, he was struck with a wine bottle, causing permanent injuries to his ear and elbow.

The abuse even included her humiliating him by making him clean up her faeces after she had defecated on the floor. On another occasion she made him lie and use his brother’s name when being treated for an injury.

After the case, the Daily Mail reported that Spencer had begun a relationship with the partner of a friend whose home near York she had moved into after separating from the victim.

PC Adele Jenkinson of Humberside Police said: “I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Mr Spencer’s strength, courage and patience throughout the criminal investigation and hope that this custodial sentence gives him, his friends and family some closure so that they can move forward and look towards a happier future.

“Sheree Spencer is an abusive and violent woman who subjected her husband to years of abuse. The offences were committed over a prolonged period of time and were regular, with several being carried out in a single day.

“I hope this outcome demonstrates to anyone affected by domestic abuse and violence that, no matter who you are, we will listen, support and take positive action to deliver justice.”