PORN star Sophie Anderson lived a life of harrowing abuse and sex trafficking by ex-Crystal Palace footballer Oliver Spedding in the months before her tragic death – and was badly failed by the police, friends have said.
Sophie, 36, died on November 29 of unconfirmed causes – just weeks after her partner and fellow entertainer Spedding, 34, was found dead in a motorway hotel.
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Sophie was a glamorous and popular adult entertainer who died in November Credit: @sophieasuccess
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Her boyfriend Oliver Spedding was a former Crystal Palace footballer turned porn star who died two weeks before SophieCredit: Croydon FC
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The pair often posted videos together although friends now say he was abusive and controlling her Credit: @oliverspedding
Now devastated friends have revealed how mother-of-one Sophie was subjected to extreme physical and mental abuse by Spedding, who would stab her, bang her head against a wall, steal her phone and money and prevent her from getting the medical attention she was entitled to much needed.
The friends are angry with the police, accusing them of “failing Sophie”.
They further claimed that officers “didn’t take them seriously” when they made reports of abuse because Sophie was a sex worker – and many of those who made the reports worked as sex workers.
Spedding allegedly transported Sophie around the country in a camper van, forcing her to continue her work as a sex worker, even though she lost one breast to multiple sepsis infections and was covered in unhealed scars from his abuse.
And twisted Spedding would often pretend that Sophie had died in bizarre hoaxes – as early as February 2023 and again shortly before her death in September – and then use his partner’s “death” to solicit donations from his worried friends and fans, text messages displayed in The Sun prove.
Shocking pictures shown to The Sun, which were too graphic for publication, show Sophie’s blood-soaked leg with a 5-inch deep gash above the left knee.
In a desperate message to a friend in August, she sent a picture and wrote: “This is what he did to me tonight. One more cut, you know what kind of people I’ve had enough of. Cut me with a Stanley blade.”
The duo were due to perform at Brighton Pride in the same month but had to pull out after mischievous Spedding stabbed Sophie again and then stabbed himself, text messages showed.
On August 6, she sent a text to a friend saying: “I know I think they’re going to kill me.”
Sending another friend a photo in which she can see the scars on her face, she wrote: “I don’t know who I am anymore. Look at these scars on my face. I will never get rid of them. He is so manipulative.
“All I’ve ever been is good. I spent all my money on him.
“I can not anymore”.
A friend said: “There was a whole group of us doing everything we could to get Sophie out of this situation and get her back to safety.
I can not anymore.”
Sophie Anderson
“But Oliver was extremely manipulative, he would take Sophie’s phones from her so she couldn’t communicate with anyone.
“Sometimes he would take her phone and send us a message pretending to be her, so we never knew who we were talking to.
CHAOTIC LIFESTYLE
“He made her leave her home and live in a camper and travel from hotel to hotel all over the country performing and meeting with clients, so if any reports were made to the police, they were in different jurisdictions and hard to find because they were without a permanent address.
“He knew what he was doing and that allowed him to continue the abuse for longer.
“He would make her do bookings even when she wasn’t physically well enough to fit into them.
“The camp was soaked in urine and disgusting. Oliver was a heavy drinker and would drink bottles of Jack Daniels and take GHB.
“He said Sophie was taking drugs even though Sophie had a well-known drug problem in the past.
“He took all her money and bank cards. He tried to destroy her business by posting transphobic content while Sophie was a huge advocate for trans rights and had a large trans following. He was jealous of her success because everyone loved her.
“She was scared, but she felt that there was no escape, that no one would listen to her.
‘HE BROKE HER’
“He called her ugly and made her feel bad about herself. He broke her in every possible way.
“But through it all, she was always the lovely, bubbly and caring one, always in control of other people.
“The last time any of us saw her she was a skeleton, disheveled, just emotionally broken. Her death broke all our hearts, we can’t imagine life without her.”
Friends began contacting police about the abuse in September after his latest death hoax – and reports were made to three different police forces, the Met, Sussex Police and Thames Valley.
Spedding was finally arrested on 11 September, with Thames Valley Police saying: “At around 6.14pm on 11 September we received reports of an assault with injuries on the M40 in High Wycombe.
“On September 12, officers arrested a 34-year-old man from London on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, false imprisonment and sending abusive/indecent/obscene/threatening messages. The case has now been closed without further action.”
However, Spedding was released the same day and despite his bail restrictions returned to Sophie and began posting online – in a now-deleted post – in which he ranted about people lying about him and issued a chilling threat: “Invade my space and then he will be laid to rest.”
Concerned friends then contacted the police again – and on October 6 around 30 pieces of evidence, including text messages and graphic photographs of the injuries, were handed over to Thames Valley Police.
HOW YOU CAN GET HELP:
Women’s Aid has this advice for victims and their families
- Always keep your phone nearby.
- Get in touch with charities for help, including the Women’s Aid live chat helpline and services such as SupportLine.
- If you are in danger, call 999.
- Learn about the silent solution, by reporting abuse without speaking into the handset, instead of dialing “55”.
- Always have some cash with you, including change for a payphone or bus ticket.
- If you suspect that your partner is about to attack you, try to go to a less risky part of the house – for example, where there is an exit and access to a telephone.
- Avoid the kitchen and garage, where knives or other weapons are likely to be found. Avoid rooms where you could become trapped, such as a bathroom or where you could be locked in a closet or other small space.
If you are a victim of domestic abuse, the SupportLine is open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6pm to 8pm on 01708 765200. The charity’s email support service is open weekdays and weekends during a crisis – [email protected].
Women’s Aid offers a live chat service – available weekdays from 8am to 6pm and weekends from 10am to 6pm.
You can also call the free 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247.
No further action appears to have been taken by police, and Spedding was found dead on November 15 at the Days Inn in Winchester in a suspected drug-related death.
Sophie died two weeks later on November 28 in Basingstoke.
Grieving friends believe the authorities could have done more to help Sophie and prevent the tragedy.
They said: “Most of the reason we feel we have not been taken seriously is because most of us are sex workers or women and Sophie was a sex worker.
The last time any of us saw her she was a skeleton, disheveled, just emotionally broken
A concerned friend and fellow sex worker
“The police must look at their treatment of sex workers and how they receive reports from sex workers and stop assuming that we should be expected to live like this.
“Sophie was clearly vulnerable and the police should have looked at all the evidence and reports of abuse they had received and considered some sort of intervention with other agencies and taken steps to protect her. Oliver should not have been released on bail.
“But despite all this, Sophie would not want to be remembered as a victim, but as a positive, fun, happy person, which she was, even in her darkest times.”
POLICE ARE RESPONDING
Sussex Police said they had received reports of abuse but referred them to Thames Valley.
A spokesman said: “Sussex Police takes all reports of domestic violence extremely seriously and will always take immediate, proactive steps to protect those at risk of harm.
“On September 22, Sussex Police received a report from a third party expressing concern for the welfare of a woman.
“The report was already part of an ongoing investigation by Thames Valley Police.
“Sussex Police liaised with Thames Valley Police to share the report and offer local support if required, as well as wider safeguards to minimize any risk to the woman.
“The matter remains under the remit of Thames Valley Police as the lead agency.”
A spokesman for Thames Valley Police confirmed it arrested Spedding after receiving reports and added: “Thames Valley Police does not comment on complaints as it would be inappropriate to do so.
“The police have a complaint procedure, which allows citizens to complain about the police or a member of our workforce. Details of our appeals process can be found on our website.
The Met said they had received a call about the abuse but it “related to an incident which took place in Sussex, so there was no further action by the Met”.
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Friends say Sophie never saw herself as a victim, and remained lively and fun even on her darkest days Credit: @sophieasuccess
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Spedding, who previously spent time in prison, was arrested in September after concerned friends called the police Credit: @oliverspedding
Categories: Optical Illusion
Source: HIS Education