A prison reform boss, who was jailed for physically abusing her husband, went on to steal the partner of her best friend after she was invited to live in their home.

Sheree Spencer has been jailed for four years for physically and verbally denigrating her husband on a daily basis for 20 years.

The prison reform chief, employed by the Ministry of Justice, was recorded secretly by her husband, Richard Spencer, as he endured routine beatings, threats and verbal volleys.

He passed over 43 images of bruises inflicted on him by his wife to the police when they started investigating the abusive relationship.

On one occasion, the mum-of-three even defecated on the floor and forced Richard to clear it up. On another, she beat him with a wine bottle. In court, the judge described the relationship as “the worst case of coercive and controlling behaviour I have seen”.

Speaking to the MailOnline, a former best friend of Sheree Spencer, Caroline Grant, revealed that after the marriage with Richard broke down, she invited her to stay in her family home.

The businesswoman was unaware of the truth behind Sheree and Richard’s split when she offered her friend a place to stay.

However, once Sheree arrived at her home, Caroline revealed that she began to flirt with her husband, Adrian Taylor.

“From the moment she arrived in our home she and Adrian were drinking together and acting like a pair of giddy teenagers around each other”, she said.

“Even though there were alarm bells sounding I felt sure that nothing would happen after I’d given her a home in her time of need.

“But Sheree only cares about Sheree. She seduced Adrian from right under my nose.”

“When Sheree’s marriage broke down, I was the only person who stood by her, and she thanked me by stealing my partner”, she added.

Caroline met Sheree after their daughters became friends at school just outside York.

She said she was surprised when the high-ranking prison reform official came to her after her marriage had ruptured.

Caroline knew the couple were unhappy and had decided to separate, however, she wasn’t aware that the police were investigating Sheree for violence against Richard.

“When I eventually became aware of what she had been doing to Richard, like everyone else I was horrified. But by then she was already living in my home and was settled.”

The family relocation specialist said Sheree came to her explaining that she was staying with another friend, but had to share a room with her friend’s son.

“I invited her to spend a night at mine and Adrian’s home, but as it turned out she would end up spending months with us”, she said.

“She blamed Richard – the poor man whose life she had actually ruined – for the split, saying he had faked evidence which had got her arrested.

“I believed everything she told me. It’s hard to describe how incredibly plausible she is, she’s a skilled liar and I believed what she said.

“That first night she was here, she and Adrian started drinking wine and got smashed together. It should have been a warning sign at the very start, but I just couldn’t see that.”

Sheree would brag to Caroline about only having to work two days a week for a £55,000-a-year job, and her meetings with Boris Johnson. Despite her prominent position, Sheree regularly got drunk during the day.

“I saw her one morning with a mug of wine at 7am. This was supposed to be a working day but she spent her days lying in bed with a bottle of wine, it’s incredible that she kept a publicly funded job”, Caroline said.

Caroline’s 76-year-old father, who also lived in the family home, began to get suspicious about Adrian and Sheree.

Caroline said: “They were spending their time getting drunk every night. They liked to sit in a garden room we have which we call The Cabin and would be up swearing and shouting and laughing long after I had gone to bed.

“I knew my dad was starting to have concerns, but I told myself that neither of them would do such a thing under the roof of our family home. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

“It’s such a betrayal – I even gave up the master bedroom for her so that she would be comfortable.”

Sheree remained in Caroline’s Yorkshire home until October 2021 when she was arrested.

She then moved into a house in east Yorkshire.

“I was asking Adrian whether he and Sheree were having an affair and he denied it despite spending so much time at her new home”, Caroline told the MailOnline.

“People will think I was naive but I’m a trusting person and I believed it until he eventually told me just before Christmas: ‘Yes we’ve been having an affair and I’m in love with her.’”

“He moved out on Boxing Day 2021 and moved in with Sheree. It was as though she was some kind of trophy on his arm, he introduced her to his family soon afterwards, he’d moved on completely.

“We’d been together since 2014 but he’d fallen hook, line and sinker for Sheree and despite living in my home she had reciprocated.”

Adrian accompanied Sheree to Hull Crown Court before she was jailed for four years for her shocking coercive and violent behaviour towards Richard.

Source: Read Full Article