01 March 2024 , 14:39
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Two women and a man who murdered a vulnerable woman who was tortured, starved and battered to death have been jailed for life.
Ashana Studholme, Shaun Pendlebury and Lisa Richardson will serve a minimum term of 34 years each for the murder of Shakira Spencer who was tortured, starved and battered to death.
The defendants, from west London, "treated her like a slave", scalded her feet and fed her only ketchup from sachets, the Old Bailey was told.
Today, before the trio were jailed an impact statement read to the court, Ms Spencer’s son, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: “I’ve suffered with daily nightmares and anxiety over what happened to her, I cannot get the horrible image of my mother looking skinny and unwell out of my head.
“Why were they (the defendants) so heartless? What could cause them to torture another human? I hope that every day they feel bad for the choices they have made. I cannot believe people she thought were her friends would ever do this to her.
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Shakira Spencer was tortured (PA)“These people are cruel and evil, they do not deserve to live a normal happy life again. To me, my mum was the best – she was not perfect but she made me feel happy, safe and loved, I miss her every day and wish for a chance to see and speak with her again. I never got to say goodbye to her, or to tell her that I loved her – these people let her die alone with her feeling she was unloved, as they had taken everybody away from her.”
Shakira's mother Merjia Spencer told the Old Bailey: "Shakira was loved by the whole family. I would describe Shakira as a caring and sweet natured person. Shakira loved kids - she worked in a nursery when she first left school and I always joked that would put her off having her own but it didn't, she was really happy when she became a mum.
"She was quiet and shy but would come out of her shell a bit when she was surrounded by loved ones - she deeply cared about people and loved having friends to spend time with. She always wanted to be liked, which made her keen to please people, and thoughtful - however, this trait also made her vulnerable.
"The defendants have, over many months, taken away everything that Shakira loved. She was isolated from her family and friends, her health deteriorated and she was almost unrecognisable. The defendants were not content with the complete destruction of Shakira's life: when she was at her lowest the defendants have tortured and murdered her like a pack of animals".
Shaun Pendlebury, Ashana Studholme and Lisa RichardsonMs Spencer’s body was found badly decomposed on September 26 2022 after neighbours saw maggots coming from her flat in Ealing, west London, and called police.
The mother-of-two had been isolated and forced into sex work in the months leading up to her death, it was claimed during the trial. In early 2021 she was reportedly a “healthy” size 16, but was “gaunt and skeletal” by July 2022.
In December last year a jury found Studholme, Pendlebury and Richardson guilty of murdering Spencer and preventing her lawful burial.