A mum whose ex-partner murdered her predicted her death after she learned of his violent past, a court heard.
Samantha Varley, 44, died after her former partner, 54-year-old Warren Spence, attacked her with a hammer and bit her.
In a vicious, sustained and gratuitous assault at Ms Varley’s home, Spence inflicted 85 separate injuries on the mum in Leeds, West Yorkshire, before hiding her body under a duvet.
Ms Varley made a request under Clare’s Law to learn about Spence’s previous history of abuse.
Clare’s Law was introduced in England and Wales to give people the right to make an application to the police requesting information about a current or ex-partner due to worry about past abuse.
What Ms Varley discovered resulted in her predicting her own death, a court heard.
Spence had subjected three previous partners to domestic abuse over a period of 20 years. After making the discovery, Ms Varley told a friend: ‘It felt like I was reading about myself’.
Spence, who was convicted of murder after a trial, was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum term of 24 years in custody.
Friends of Ms Varley yelled at Spence as he was led to the cells at Leeds Crown Court.
Mr Justice Cotter told the court how Ms Varley was regularly beaten and controlled by Spence in the months before her death.
She suffered 25 complete rib fractures and horrific injuries to her hips, shoulder, back, skull and head after being killed on February 8, 2024.
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Mr Justice Cotter told Spence his previous partners ‘may now consider them fortunate to have escaped alive from a relationship with you’.
He said: ‘You brutally attacked her in what was her home, just as you had seriously attacked her and other partners before. You are a very violent, manipulative and controlling man who has been a danger to women for many years.’
Ms Varley was discovered lying face down on her bed with blood under her head at her home in Harehills, Leeds.
A post-mortem found she had suffered human bite marks on her forearm, shin and wrist, injuries consistent with hammer blows and being stamped on with extreme force.
Becky Joyce from the Leeds-based Homeless Street Angels charity, which supported Ms Varley, told the BBC she was the ‘the loveliest and kindest person’.
‘She was a real character,’ she said. ‘When I used to take her to appointments we used to have CDs on, she used to make me put the radio on really loud.
‘She will be very missed by the whole community, she was such a light within the community and everybody loved her.
‘Everybody has nice words to say about her.’
There were bald patches on her head from where her hair had been torn out. Police were alerted on February 12, 2024, after receiving a 999 call from a concerned relative who told how she had not seen her for a few days.
Spence was arrested 70 miles away in Scarborough, North Yorkshire, after giving false details to police.
Learn more about domestic abuse in the UK
- One in 4 women will experience domestic abuse at some point in their lives
- ONS research revealed that, in 2023, the police recorded a domestic abuse offence approximately every 40 seconds
- Yet Crime Survey for England & Wales data for the year ending March 2023 found only 18.9% of women who experienced partner abuse in the last 12 months reported the abuse to the police
- According to Refuge, 84% of victims in domestic abuse cases are female, with 93% of defendants being male
- Safe Lives reports that disabled women are twice as likely to experience domestic abuse as non-disabled women, and typically experience domestic abuse for a longer period of time before accessing support
- Refuge has also found that, on average, it takes seven attempts before a woman is able to leave for good.
They started dating six months before her death but that Ms Varley was soon subjected to abuse, including being grabbed by the throat if she left for more than 10 minutes.
She appeared in public with black eyes and had reached out for help but struggled to escape because of her dependancy on drugs.
Mr Justice Cotter told Spence that Ms Varley was able to predict her own death at your hands, adding: ‘The tragic reality, given her addiction, is that she didn’t have the ability to escape from you.
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‘She was also frightened for the safety of others given your threats to harm her family. She knew during this sustained assault she was being savagely beaten by a man who had flipped and she well knew you were capable. She must have suffered significantly prior to her death.’
Spence, who has 29 convictions for 57 offences, refused to accept being found guilty by jurors at a trial.
Jamie Hill, defending, said: ‘Fourteen months after the event, and drug-free, Mr Spence presents as a different person to the person who was living that life in Leeds. He’s a man who presents no trouble to the prison authorities, and the skills he learned as a much younger man have allowed him to take on a responsible role within the prison.
‘He is essentially getting his head down and accepts that he is potentially going to be there for the rest of his life.’
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