A 67-year-old woman has been found guilty of killing her five-year-old stepdaughter by punishing her in a scalding hot bath nearly 50 years ago. Janice Nix was convicted of manslaughter and child cruelty at Isleworth Crown Court on Tuesday, following a fresh investigation prompted by the victim's brother.
Case Background
Andrea Bernard died in 1978 in Thornton Heath, south London, after suffering burns to 50% of her body. Initially treated as an accident, the case was reopened in 2022 when Andrea's older brother, Desmond Bernard, now 56, provided a new account to police.
During the trial, Bernard testified that he had originally claimed his sister's death was an accident because he wanted Nix to stop beating him. He described how on 6 June 1978, Nix was furious after Andrea had ignored instructions not to leave the house and to help clean.
Brother's Testimony
Bernard told the court: "I could hear Janice shouting: 'Get in the bath,' and I could hear Andrea saying: 'The bath is too hot mummy' ... Then I heard screaming and splashing. Then I heard the screaming stopped and I could hear Janice calling Andrea to 'wake up'." When he entered the bathroom, he saw his sister's limp body and her "skin falling off her".
He also revealed that Nix asked him to say it was an accident and claim they were in the garden when it happened, promising she would never beat him again. Bernard said he lived in constant fear of beatings, which included being hit with a belt, bitten, burned with a cigarette, and forced to eat cat food.
Expert Evidence
A burns expert testified that a child exposed to water hot enough to cause Andrea's injuries would have instinctively tried to escape, suggesting Nix forcibly held her underwater. Nix, then a teenager, was in a relationship with the children's father and acted as their stepmother.
During her trial, Nix admitted giving a false account to the 1978 inquest, claiming Andrea had bathed herself and later complained of itchy legs before fainting. She said she panicked over her failure to supervise Andrea and did not realise the water was scalding hot. "On hindsight now, I see my negligence as a teenager," she stated.
Prosecution Statement
Aisling Hosein of the Crown Prosecution Service said: "No matter how much time has passed since an offence takes place, the Crown Prosecution Service will always seek to prosecute perpetrators of these horrific crimes and ensure they face the consequences of their actions."
